The team had set their plan in motion, but the air was thick with a question that was a bit colder than the sea breeze: would they actually succeed? Only time would hold the answer..
"Since when did you start manipulating people, Aunt?"
"Pardon, Arlienne?" Seraphyne tilted her head, her expression a mask of feigned innocence.
"I believe you know exactly what I mean." Arlienne gripped her trident with white knuckled intensity.
She dug her nails into her own palm, using the sharp sting of physical pain to anchor her mind against the hypnotic pull of the siren song echoing across the deck.
"I am not clever enough to decipher your vague riddles," Seraphyne replied smoothly as they drew closer to the singer, Riruka.
"Well, I'd love to enlighten you," Arlienne's voice dripped with pure sarcasm, "but it seems we've attracted some unwanted attention… just as I expected."
She leveled her trident toward a group of men closing in on them. It was a grim alliance: Leviacore officers and bloodthirsty pirates, standing shoulder to shoulder.
"We shouldn't have let ourselves get distracted," Seraphyne muttered, shifting her stance so they stood back to back.
Her eyes scanned the perimeter. Each man had his ears plugged with thick cotton, insulating them from the song's magical lure.
"They would have come for us regardless. I knew it."
"And where do you two pretty ladies think you're going?" an officer asked, a cocky, punchable smirk plastered on his face.
Arlienne's eyes flared with recognition. It was the same man who had harassed her and Emerion about their tickets earlier.
"To your mother's wedding night," Arlienne shot back, her voice ringing out over the deck. "I thought I'd give her some tips starting with how to avoid giving birth to a pathetic mistake like you."
The insult hit like a physical blow. The surrounding pirates and officers sputtered, some failing to suppress their laughter at their comrade's expense.
Consumed by a sudden, blinding rage, the officer roared and lunged at Arlienne, blade raised high.
In one fluid, contemptuous motion, Arlienne flicked her trident. The metal caught the hilt of his sword, twisting it from his grasp before he could even register her movement.
The group fell deathly silent. She hadn't even needed to shift her feet to disarm him.
Stunned, the officer stumbled back, his mouth hanging open. He pointed a trembling finger at Arlienne, his face turning a humiliated shade of purple.
"What are you waiting for, you idiots? Attack!"
The silence shattered. With a collective war cry, fifteen men charged at once,
blades glinting under the ship's lanterns.
Seraphyne's brow furrowed.
The odds were grim. "Aunt, would you be kind enough to jump?" Arlienne called out suddenly.
It was a bizarre request in the heat of a life or death struggle, but Seraphyne trusted Arlienne's tactical genius without question.
She leaped into the air, performing a graceful moon salt.
Arlienne gripped her trident with both hands, her voice dropping to a chilling, calm whisper. "Tidal Fan."
She spun with violent elegance. The attackers hesitated for a fraction of a second, sensing a change in the air pressure, but it was already too late.
A circular wave of thin, high pressure water blades erupted from the trident. The force was devastating.
Men were shattered backward in multiple directions, some were hurled over the railings into the dark, churning sea, while others were slammed into the bulkheads, knocked unconscious instantly.
"So, you've mastered this element already?" Seraphyne commented as she landed lightly beside her niece.
"Surprised? It's no big deal," Arlienne said, though her chest heaved slightly. "The move just creates high pressure water blades. Simple physics."
"Still, to execute that perfectly in a single second is impressive."
"Yet, I'm still not sure if we're getting out of here alive."
"Trust your brother's plan," Seraphyne said firmly. "Besides, it is far better to die fighting than to die doing nothing."
Arlienne's lips twisted into a bitter scowl. "He didn't even have a plan. His legs were shaking. If you hadn't intervened, he wouldn't have even opened his mouth."
She pressed a hand against her temple, her usual composure cracking to reveal the stress underneath.
"He just needed a push. Besides, I can see you're either disappointed in yourself for not having a plan, or because things aren't going exactly as you choreographed them."
Arlienne felt her aunt's gaze digging into her soul. She avoided eye contact, neither confirming nor denying the accusation. The moment of tension was broken by the heavy thud of boots.
Four more officers arrived, blades drawn, but Arlienne's attention was fixed further ahead on two blonde heads.
"I'll handle these four," Seraphyne said, dropping into a low fighting stance. Her hands began to glow with a vibrant, emerald green mana. "You deal with those two."
"It seems I don't have much of a choice tonight," Arlienne muttered.
She pushed off the deck, launching herself into the air to bypass the officers. Her expression hardened as she recalled the plan; they needed Riruka's ability if they were to turn the tide.
She descended like a hawk, aiming her trident at the older sister, Riruka. The weapon struck the wooden deck with a deafening thud as the sisters dodged at the very last microsecond.
"So, you have some reflexes after all, Ririyen," Arlienne noted, her eyes shifting to the younger girl, who looked barely twelve but held a gaze full of venom.
"So you know," Ririyen hissed, drawing two serrated daggers and leveling them at Arlienne.
"I'm surprised that you're surprised," Arlienne said, her trademark smirk returning.
"I've known the truth about your abilities since the day I met you on this ship. I've already prepared counter measures, though I admit, I wanted to see a live demonstration with my own eyes."
In the distance, the atmosphere turned chaotic. As Riruka stopped singing to dodge Arlienne's attack, the "illusion of happiness" shattered.
Screams erupted from the pirate ship moored alongside the Leviacore vessel. Over sixty passengers, who had been led across the gangplank like sheep to the slaughter, suddenly realized their horrific reality.
"Don't come any closer!" Ririyen glanced back at her sister. A silent communication passed between them one of fierce protection and the other of desperate fear.
They knew the stakes. If the passengers revolted, the pirates would be
overwhelmed, and their "Captain" would show no mercy for the failure.
"I'm sorry, sweetheart, but I'm going to have to break your heart," Arlienne said.
She rushed forward, and Ririyen met her head on.
Arlienne struck with predatory grace, but Ririyen was surprisingly fast. The girl slid under the trident's reach, swinging her daggers toward Arlienne's legs.
Arlienne was forced to take flight again, hovering just above the deck.
"Hey! Don't run away now! What's the matter, are you scared?" Ririyen taunted.
"I believe the term you're looking for is 'tactical retreat,"
Arlienne countered. She regained her composure and unleashed a volley of high pressure water blasts not at Ririyen, but at the singer, Riruka.
"Hey! Your fight is with me!" Ririyen scrambled to block the blasts.
The water hit her blades with the force of iron hammers, nearly shattering the steel. Ririyen gritted her teeth, her arms vibrating from the impact.
"You aren't counter attacking with spells," Arlienne observed, pausing her assault. "So, you can't use mana at all."
Ririyen's body went rigid. Riruka gasped.
"Let's see where that confidence goes after I beat you into the deck!"
Ririyen charged again. Arlienne simply sighed and fired another water blast.
Ririyen was caught in a lethal dilemma: if she dodged, the blast would kill her sister. She chose to take the hit.
The water slammed into her left shoulder. There was no blood, not even a scratch, but the pain was agonizing as if her nerves had been plunged into liquid nitrogen. Her arm went completely numb.
"You're stubborn," Arlienne said as their weapons locked. She was clearly the stronger of the two, pressing Ririyen back with ease. "Why not surrender? Work with us. It would be an honor to be on the right side of history for once."
"The right side?" Ririyen panted, struggling to keep her feet. "What is the 'right side'? Because from where I'm standing, you aren't winning."
"Then you need to see a doctor about your eyesight," Arlienne said, preparing a final, crushing blow. She didn't need Ririyen alive, only Riruka.
Ririyen's expression went blank, accepting the end. She dropped her daggers. But before Arlienne's trident could find its mark, a figure lunged between them.
The sound of a blade piercing flesh echoed. Riruka had moved. The trident struck her chest, yet she didn't stop singing she forced the melody out through the blood in her throat.
"Death is an escape you don't deserve yet, Riruka," Arlienne muttered, though she looked genuinely annoyed by the interference.
"S-Sister!" Ririyen screamed, tears streaming down her face as she caught Riruka's falling body. "That bastard captain… that son of a bitch! Because of that coward, you always have to suffer!"
Ririyen held Riruka's belly as the blood from her chest dripped down. "That liar… if there is a God… or an Old Great Sage… why don't they punish a man like him?"
Ririyen's hands felt tears from Riruka's eyes, even as she kept singing.
"Why do people like us always suffer? Whyyyyyyy!" The girl's scream echoed through the ship. Ririyen punched the deck rapidly, falling to her knees.
"What did we do to deserve this? Why... why... why us?"
"Hey, hey, I get it, you have a grudge against him. Then why not fight against him?" Arlienne asked, tilting her head. If she could get the sisters on their side, half the battle was won.
"You think we don't want to?" Ririyen sobbed uncontrollably. "If I had my fate in my own hands, I would have sliced my blade into his throat, but… but he took an Oath of Echoes from our parents!"
"They sold us like we were some animals. To make things worse, that jerk used our abilities and made us do things we didn't even want to."
"It's interesting. You said he took an Oath of Echoes from your parents, but not from yourselves. Then if you betray him, your parents will face the consequences, not you. Am I correct?"
Ririyen chuckled dryly. "They will die. My sister believes they sold us out of hunger… she still holds sympathy for those butchers who call themselves parents."
Riruka reached out and covered Ririyen's mouth, stopping her from speaking further.
"I see… the captain clearly knew this from the beginning."
Arlienne raised her trident again. "But you will have to cooperate, Riruka.
Otherwise, your sister will face the consequences."
"Of course she will face consequences if she betrays my goodwill," a voice rang out behind Arlienne.
A man in his mid thirties with an eyepatch stepped forward. He wore a loose white shirt under a long crimson red coat, with brown trousers and black boots.
His long black hair waved behind his shoulders as he smirked.
"Who the hell are you?" Arlienne asked. Ririyen and Riruka's bodies tensed instantly.
"R-Rikel," Ririyen whispered, her voice trembling. She shivered, not from the cold, but from the man's presence.
"I heard everything. After I finish this girl, I will give you a piece of my mind," Rikel said, looking at Ririyen. "You are not getting smacked right now only because of the goodwill of your big sister."
Rikel's gaze shifted to the blood on Riruka's chest. Then he turned to Arlienne with a smirk. "How rude of me. Allow me to introduce myself."
He bowed in a fancy way, getting on one knee. "I am Rikel Holfbot, I am the captain of the pirate ship."
His voice was soft, like honey. He pulled a rose from his pocket. "It's a pleasure making your acquaintance, pretty lady." He extended the rose toward Arlienne, who simply rolled her eyes.
"Would you be kind enough to say your name?" Rikel asked, looking at her with adoration.
But then his mouth hung open as the rose petals fell to the ground. Arlienne had cut the rose into pieces.
With a blur of her trident, she shredded the flower into a cloud of red petals.
"My name? I don't think someone like you deserves to know it. Besides, I am not kind enough for that." Arlienne pointed her trident at him.
The atmosphere changed. The ship shook violently, as if the waves had risen, but the sea was calm. Riruka's singing lost a few notes, and Ririyen started shivering more.
"Have you awakened some new powers because of rejection, pirate?" Arlienne frowned.
"I wish," Rikel said. A dark shadow, around six feet tall, appeared behind him. It was a man holding a massive sword on his shoulder. His hair was incredibly long, and his muscles were evidence that he had done nothing but train his whole life.
"V-Veryn," Ririyen's voice shook completely.
The man revealed himself with long, disorganized red hair and a caveman-like red dress. His jawline was thick enough to cut stone.
"Why are you here? Didn't I tell you to wait on the ship?" Rikel snapped. Despite his tone, sweat dripped from his forehead.
Veryn only looked at Rikel with a mix of emotions.
"What are you staring at? Just go wait on the ship. There is nobody here for you to fight."
"Who are you to tell me that?" Veryn asked in a casual, almost amused tone.
"What do you mean? I am your captain, you must obey me!"
Rikel's face turned red with anger and embarrassment.
"Hmm, captain, you say. Yes, you are. But I am my own master.
I will do what I want, and right now, I want to fight," Veryn declared, slamming his sword onto the deck. The ship shook again.
"Are you kidding? There is nobody who can match your strength here!" Rikel gritted his teeth.
Arlienne watched them, curious about this stranger's power.
"No, no, no. Your ordinary eyes can't see the extraordinary things," Veryn said, looking around the deck.
"Stop spitting nonsense. You will fail the plan!"
"Your plan doesn't concern me at all," Veryn huffed.
"I told you at the very beginning: I live to become strong, and for that, I will fight the strong. I alone will stand at the top." He shifted his gaze toward the broken wall above.
"Then make it quick. Whoever you're going to fight," Rikel said, pinching the bridge of his nose.
"No guarantees. You can't see the art of battle with your ordinary eyes. Only the great people can see it and pour their heart and soul into it."
With those poetic phrases, Veryn began walking away. Was he heading for Emerion or Anathema? Only God knew.
"Fufu, you got scolded,"
Arlienne mocked.
"Just watch. I am going to wipe that smirk off your face." Rikel pointed an Aethercaster at her. a magical firearm and aiming it at her heart.
"You have so much confidence for someone who is going to fight me alone."
"Alone?" Rikel laughed.
"You are mistaken, pretty lady. Am I right, Ririyen?"
Ririyen froze. She hesitated to touch her blades, struggling both physically and mentally.
But Riruka, still singing and bleeding, forced a blade into Ririyen's hand and pushed her forward.
Arlienne clenched her trident tighter. She was now facing two opponents at once.
"Shall we begin?" Rikel said, pressing the trigger of the Aethercaster.