Story: 'Back to the roots' or 'Taking a whole new path' (chapter 16)

Authors: Tukuyomi

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Chapter 16

Title: Chapter 16 - Why do I care?

“Do you have any idea how embarrassing this is for me?” Clair complained meekly, struggling vigorously but to no avail. “Just let me go.”

“You brought this upon yourself, you know.”, Eve said with a victorious smile, tightening her grip.

“I certainly didn’t!”, Clair said determinedly, kicking her feet. “How would you feel in my place?”, she asked softly and blushed. She hated being treated like this.

“I would enjoy it as long as I could, I guess.”, Eve answered and grinned saucily, even though she was a little out of breath due to Clair’s antics. “Now stop struggling, you’re making this harder for both of us.”

“I wouldn’t if you would just let me go already.”, Clair huffed, her blush not quite vanished yet. “Just…stop this.”

“No.”, Eve said sternly but ultimately couldn’t help but laugh at her friend’s behaviour. “If you had just let me help you back there, I wouldn’t have to do this, so don’t complain. Just…don’t think about how stupid you look like this.”, she added, bursting into laughter.

“That was the wrong joke my friend.”, Clair said darkly, smacking Eve’s head with her fist, causing Eve to finally let go of her. Clair reached the ground, walking in a circle before eyeing her friend.

“See? I told you I could walk by myself.”, Clair said, obviously content to be on her feet again. She swirled around, walking towards Eve. “Honestly, a soldier being carried piggyback…” Her cheeks flushed again, despite her efforts for the contrary.

“Well, if you hadn’t ordered me to use the Heal element on myself, you’d be in a better shape right know, and I wouldn’t have to worry about you all the time.”, Eve sighed, feigning annoyance.

“Yeah, and I’d be the one carrying you around right now.”, Clair retorted. She walked past Eve but wavered, and Eve had to grab her arm to keep her from falling. Without another word, she laid Clair’s arm around her neck, and supported her with her left arm around her waist. Clair didn’t struggle, simply leaning against Eve. Her legs were too weak after all, and her stomach still hurt too much to walk upright.

“You should have at least left your rod behind, it’s just too heavy to carry in your condition.”, Eve mumbled, unable to hide her concern for her friend. She gazed at the long path in front of them. It would take them a while to get to the ship, and the path was bathed in twilight already. They wouldn’t reach it before it grew dark, Eve didn’t exactly like the idea of walking through the darkness in their poor constitution.

“I’m…nothing without my rod, you know that. I already lost my sword.”, Clair replied thoughtfully, remembering how she had simply lost the sword out of her grasp at one time, without even noticing. She hadn’t felt its loss, it had been, and still was, nothing to her. Clair looked at the large rod in her left hand that made her arm grow weary just by dragging it behind her.

“But maybe you’re right. I don’t want to fight anymore, so I don’t need my rod anymore, either.” With that, she loosened her weak grip on her rod and let it fall into the dirt beside her feet. She didn’t look at it and simply moved to continue walking, but Eve beside her had stopped, forcing her to do so as well.

Eve couldn’t think of anything to say, so she simply nodded in understanding. She could comprehend how Clair was feeling. Their whole life had been turned upside down recently, and all this fighting had caused so many losses as well. So much hatred. She could understand someone as gentle and sensitive as Clair could not bear it anymore, even though she hid her vulnerabilities under a mask of indifference and coldness most of the time. It had to be hard for her to not be able to be who she was, to hide all the time, and pretend that she was cold and brave. The incident on the Longinus One probably still lingered on her mind, she probably still blamed herself for what had happened. And all Eve could do was watch her suffer and crumble, because she didn’t know what to do to help her, when actually she was the one who was weak and helpless. But she tried to be strong, she really did.

But to leave her rod in the dirt, Eve could hardly bear to see it go to waste like this. She could understand Clair, but to drop the rod was too clear a sign of surrender, one Eve hadn’t expected to see so suddenly. She had the urge to pick it up again, and after a few moments of contemplation, she did. Even if Clair didn’t want it, she felt the necessity to keep it, if just as a reminder of their old days as proud soldiers. She let go of Clair for a few moments to loosen her belt slightly so she could bind the rod to her back with it. It pressed a little uncomfortably against her shoulder blades, but she didn’t care, instead draping Clair’s arm around her neck again to continue walking. To her slight surprise, Clair didn’t say anything, simply watching her with a blank expression.

“I’ll stop him, for sure. I won’t let him do as he pleases anymore.”, Eve muttered, but it sounded more like a hiss. If Clair wouldn’t be fighting anymore, then she would just have to double her efforts. She tried to pretend she didn’t mind this fact that weighed down on her more than she liked to admit.

Clair, who had previously been occupied with staring at her feet to see them proceed painfully slowly along the muddy path, now looked at Eve beside her. Her face was one of determinedness, and Clair marvelled at the strong resolve of her friend. Clair knew that Eve didn’t do this for herself, but for others. Eve was the kind of person who always cared about others and couldn’t bear to see them being treated badly or suffer. She did all this for Kidd and Harle, but also for her fellow comrades who died on the Longinus One, because they hadn’t been the ones to blame.

She never thought about herself, which was why for as long as Clair had known Eve, which wasn’t much more than a year, she had always gotten herself into all kinds of trouble. Clair still remembered this one day when they had been newcomers, and some older soldier had taken to bully her because she had been the worst when it came to sword practice. She remembered how Eve had stood before her, defending her from the other soldier. Shortly after she had beaten him in a duel, and the soldier had resigned his position as a soldier, having been too embarrassed of losing to a newcomer. It was one of the few fond memories Clair never wanted to forget, even if it reminded her of how weak she had been. How weak she still was.

“You’ll beat him up good, I hope.”, Clair said and forced herself to laugh.

“Of course.”, Eve responded, unaware of Clair’s fake laughter. “I didn’t get him back then, but next time I won’t hold back.” She clenched her left fist as she said this, as if to prove to herself that she really meant it. No matter how much she loathed the thought, she would have to do it. For Clair’s sake. She would kill him, so that Clair wouldn’t have to worry anymore, so that she could forget about all this. So that they could return to the ordinary life they had before. The ordinary life they had shared…together. She liked to believe that with Viper’s death, all of their problems would be solved. This thought was everything that still kept her going.

“I guess…I’ll be staying here in Porre, then. It’s nice enough here.”, Clair spoke and smiled weakly.

“That’s a good idea. Now that Viper’s escaped, it should be safe here.”, Eve said and tried to sound encouraging, even though she had the feeling she wanted to say something entirely different. She felt as if she was making a mistake. “It won’t take long. You…you won’t even notice that I’m gone.”, Eve said, but felt as if her lips moved of their own accord. She didn’t like how their sudden talk of separation was treated like nothing, but she couldn’t help it.

“Oh, you don’t have to worry about that.”, Clair responded and her laugh was high-pitched and as fake as the one before. She didn’t care, she didn’t want to care, it wasn’t like she couldn’t survive a few days without Eve. It wasn’t like she couldn’t survive a few days wondering if Eve was still alive. She could do so well on her own.

“If I get bored, I’ll just go to this strange building in the city…”

Alone.’

“And pay this ridiculous amount of money…”

Alone.’

“To watch this... ‘play’ this woman was talking about…”

Alone.’

“So I can…tell you…what it is...”

Clair’s voice wavered at the end, and as she turned to look at Eve and saw her eyes wide and incredulous, she knew that, despite her forced smile, she was crying.

“Clair…”, Eve whispered, staring at her friend whose cheeks were streaked by rivers of tears.

“You wanted to know, didn’t you?” Clair’s was almost shrieking as she clutched desperately onto Eve’s collar, burying her head in her shirt which was quickly growing wet. She still forced herself to laugh.

“You wanted to go there too, didn’t you? But it’s okay I’ll just go there alone and tell you everything about it when you’re back, it’s really no problem, I…” Clair talked on and on until her voice eventually failed her and all she managed to utter were desperate sobs. Still clutching Eve’s shirt, she slowly sank to her knees, her face covered by dark and wet strands of hair, soaked with tears.

“Don’t…leave me alone.”, Clair whimpered almost too softly for Eve to hear.

She hated it. She hated her life for having turned out the way it did, and she hated everyone who was responsible for this. Herself. She hated herself for being so selfish, asking impossible things of Eve. She hated herself for being so weak, breaking down like this when everyone had supported her. The captain of the Radical Dreamers, Harle, and most of all, Eve. She was the worst. She loathed her cowardice, her indifference of other people’s matters, when all she could think of was herself. She was a monster.

“Clair, I-”, Eve said but stopped abruptly when she noticed that she was crying as well, her tears falling right onto the top of Clair’s head without her noticing. She wiped them away hastily, but they only came forward again with even more force and she soon gave it up.

“Why…why didn’t you say anything earlier!” Her voice sounded angry despite her quivering voice. She stared down at Clair, she didn’t know what to feel. She was angry at Clair for keeping to herself so much. If she didn’t want her to go, she should have said so right away. She should have just let her know. But she was also glad…that Clair had said what she did.

“Don’t look at me like that.”, Clair sobbed. She couldn’t bear the look on Eve’s face. If she had just kept her mouth shut and her face straight, a practice she had come to perfect over the last two days, everything would still be all right. But now…she was sure Eve hated her. “I’m selfish, terrible…mad…”

“You’re none of these.”, Eve cut her off sharply. She wouldn’t have her friend saying such things about herself.

“I am!”, Clair cried, aggravated. “I...I don’t care about the others, I don’t give a damn about Viper or anyone!” She looked up to Eve, and met the shocked gaze she had expected to see. It was alright, she wanted Eve to know. If she were to hide her ugly self any longer she was sure it would suffocate her, choke her with its ugly claws. “I was never interested in any of this, I don’t care about what Viper or anyone else does. It doesn’t have anything to do with me…” Clair looked to the ground, regarding the dark spot where her tears had seeped into the ground. Where her tears had escaped into the ground, away from her.

“Why, then? Why did you fight with me if you didn’t want to do it?”, Eve asked, her voice louder than she wanted it to be. She didn’t know which she should be more shocked at, the fact that Clair didn’t care about anyone or the fact that Eve had never noticed that her friend, whom she had asked to help her with all this, felt this way. That she had never noticed how unhappy she was about it. Eve looked up to the sky, ignoring the tugging at her collar for a moment as she felt a few wet drops on her head. It had started to rain, and Clair didn’t notice at all.

“You still don’t understand, do you?”, Clair asked and laughed, more at herself than Eve. “Of course you wouldn’t, someone as innocent as you couldn’t possible understand something like this.” Clair wore a frightening expression Eve had never seen before.

“Wha…what are you saying? Why did you fight if you didn’t want to?”, Eve stuttered, petrified at the sight of this person in front of her. This person she didn’t know. Just the evening before, she had thought that she had finally understood Clair, that everything was all right again. She had been wrong, so wrong. She knew nothing, and yet, she called herself her friend. What kind of friend was she, who didn’t know anything?

“Because of you!”, Clair cried, unable to contain herself. It was for the better if Eve knew, she deserved to know everything. “It’s always because of you…I just…I just pretended to help you because I couldn’t bear being alone.” How had this happened? Just a few minutes earlier she had been smiling, involuntarily playing along with being carried piggyback, she had almost been happy even. She had thought she could ignore the thoughts that gnawed at her mind and heart every day, and just forget them after a while. Time could heal such things, couldn’t it? But now her feelings came rushing out, and she wasn’t able to stop them. It felt like her body wasn’t her own anymore…and this happy time was irrevocably lost to her now. She hadn’t nearly finished yet, and she doubted that once she had, Eve would ever even think of carrying her piggyback, or even touching her, again.

“Pretended to…help me?”, Eve gasped. She suddenly couldn’t withstand the tug at the collar anymore and dropped to her knees also. Thoughts of having been tricked crossed her mind, thoughts of being manipulated. She hated herself for expecting such things of her friend, but at the moment, she didn’t know what she was supposed to think at all. How had this happened? As she saw Clair’s mouth open to talk, she prepared for the worst.

“I never did anything to help you.”, Clair said sadly, gathering up the courage to look into Eve’s eyes. “All I could do was to kill. I killed so many people, Eve.”, Clair whispered and regarded her hands, which she had withdrawn from Eve’s collar, with a mixture of disgust and amazement. They looked perfectly normal on the outside, but Clair knew they were stained with red. She had no idea just how many people had died because of her. Most of them had probably drowned because they hadn’t awakened out of their unconsciousness in time to escape. Or their wounds had been too severe to be able to move. She hadn’t even got the mercy to kill them right away, instead letting them die a slow and painful death. Clair knew how it felt to drown.

Eve regarded Clair in shock. She was talking about the battle on the Longinus One. She was aware that many people must have died, the lifeboats hadn’t been nearly enough to save all of the people on board. They hadn’t been much more than mere decoration in the first place, and Eve wouldn’t have been surprised to hear that most of them leaked. It was a grim thought. Yet, it was Viper’s fault. It always was. So why did Clair blame herself so much? She hadn’t even been the one to shoot the cannon, which had eventually caused the Longinus One to sink in the first place.

“It’s not…your fault this happened.”, Eve said hesitantly, afraid of the image of her broken friend before her. She circled her arms around her tentatively, pressing her close to herself. “It’s not your fault.”, she repeated, more to herself than to Clair. She had never known, never guessed that her friend had suffered so much, had gone to such extends for her, while she didn’t notice anything. It made her feel guilty beyond words.

“I struck them down, one after another…”, Clair sobbed, trying to get the images of a defeated Randal out of her head. “I should have talked to them, done anything to prevent this. But I was fighting them, blindly, never thinking of anything. I can’t go on like this.” She clutched Eve tightly, even though she expected to be pushed away at any moment.

“They would have done the same to you.”, Eve said sternly. “If you had let them, they would have killed you just as mercilessly. And also…you were doing it for me, weren’t you?” Her voice was quiet by now, but also contained a hint of hopefulness.

“…yes, I-“, Clair began, but was silenced by Eve’s index finger on her lips.

“Thank you.”, she said and smiled. Eve’s tears had dried by now and all that reminded Clair of them were two clean paths across her otherwise muddy face, which the rain was trying hard to clean, unsuccessfully so far. “Who knows what would have happened to me if you hadn’t been there.”

“Don’t say such things. I wasn’t helping at all...”, Clair whispered weakly.

“That’s not true.”, Eve disagreed, lifting Clair’s head with her right hand. With her other hand, she began wiping away Clair’s tears and the streaks of mud along with them. “You’re gentle, kind, smart, and a thousand things more I can’t express through words.” She smiled sweetly as she said this. “You’re the one who always reaches out to me, to help me, to support me.”

Clair smiled weakly at that, tightening her embrace. “You don’t hate me, then?”

“Of course I don’t.”, Eve answered and chuckled lightly. “Even though you’re also impossibly moody, reckless and indifferent at times. But all in all, I like you better the way you are now.”

“Do you…really mean that?”, Clair asked tentatively, still too unsure to be hopeful.

“Yes. Actually, I was almost scared of you yesterday, being so harsh to Riddel and so cold in front of Viper.”, Eve said and smiled, but her smile quickly turned into a frown as she saw Clair’s features sadden.

“I’m sorry, I…hadn’t been fair to you yesterday. But I had to hide my feelings in order to be able to go through with all this.”, Clair apologized, slowly releasing Eve from her embrace.

“No, I guess it was my fault. You had gotten angry after I had told you these stupid things about our future. I shouldn’t have done that.”, Eve said and scratched the back of her head, “Talking about a husband, kids and a house at the beach when actually I had wanted to say that it would be nice if…we…had a house close to beach, someday.” She added the last words in a hushed whisper, but Clair didn’t fail to hear them.

“Wait, that sounds even more stupid…”, Eve said but was interrupted by Clair who flung her arms around her neck, causing them both to fall into the mud, the rod Eve had strapped to her back disengaging itself in the process. The mud didn’t feel any colder now that the rain that had already soaked them both.

“Not at all.”, Clair said smilingly and scrambled to sit up, effectively pinning Eve to the ground in the process. “It sounds…perfect.”, she added in a whisper, trying to keep herself from bursting into tears again. Though this time, her tears would be those of happiness.

“Well, that’s good then, I guess.”, Eve said and smiled contently. “But there’s one thing you have to promise me. I only want you to smile when you’re really happy, not just to please others and make them believe that you’re alright. And also, I want you to come to me and cry when you need to, and tell me about everything that worries you. In return, I promise that I will never leave you alone, no matter what happens.” Eve blushed at the last part, but she was too happy to bother about such things. She looked up to Clair expectantly, waiting for her answer.

Clair leaned down until her head was beside Eve’s, to whisper into her ear. “Promise.” The answer was plain, but it meant a lot to Eve. She had never realized how important they were to each other, how much they needed the other to be complete. But now that she did, she felt like they could face anything, together. She still wasn’t sure what it was that Clair saw in her, or what she expected of her, but this was something she would worry about later. For now, she was just glad beyond words to have Clair, her Clair, back, instead of this sad and depressed shadow she had seen these last days. It gave her the strength she had always used to draw from her friend’s presence.

They simply remained motionless and regarded each other in a silence undisturbed by words or sounds other than the rain drumming onto their skin and clothes. They were wet to the skin, but neither of them seemed to mind. Clair’s brown strands hung down heavily, the rain that was running along them dropping onto Eve’s already wet face. Eve was tempted to reach upwards to tuck them in place but refrained from doing so, simply content to watch Clair’s face beneath the strands. She hoped Clair felt like these raindrops now, falling down but at the same time knowing that Eve would catch her. The thought of it made her smile even more.

“It’s still raining. We’ll probably get a cold like this.”, Clair remarked, making no attempt to get off Eve.

“Probably. Did you think the rain would stop just for us?”, Eve asked and grinned.

“Maybe. I would have liked to see a rainbow right now.”, Clair said, looking up to the dark clouds above them.

“Me too.”, Eve agreed. ‘A rainbow would be nice, but I doubt I would have much time to look at it.’ The thought made her smile again.

“You look terribly happy.”, Clair noted.

“I must be your mirror image, then.”, Eve answered and smirked. Clair did the same.

“But you know…”, Eve started, causing Clair’s eyes to focus on her. “I remember you saying how stupid you looked while I was carrying you piggyback. How strange do you think we look now, like this?”, she asked and couldn’t help but blush slightly, which Clair instantly imitated unwillingly. Clair looked down at herself, noticing how she was practically pinning Eve to the ground, holding her in place between her legs, with her hands on either side of Eve’s head. She had to admit, it wasn’t the most subtle position to be in.

“You know…”, Clair said and smiled, wiping a small tear from her eye, “I don’t give a damn.”


She didn’t want to wake up. But as her dream faded further and further into nothingness, she gave in. She opened her eyes reluctantly as she slowly ascended out of her sleep, only to be greeted by a burning light which seemed to pierce through her wide and unadjusted pupils. She groaned and turned her head to the side, coming face to face with a pair of familiar crimson eyes only a few inches in front of her.

“Bonjour.” Her voice was soft, almost too faint to hear even from such a close distance.

“Hey, girl.”, Kidd said and smiled weakly. She turned her head slightly downward and noticed Harle’s arms around her waist. She tried to turn her body to the side but quickly came to a halt as she felt a sharp pain in her thigh, which she didn’t even have to think about to know what it was. Her memories of what had happened to her instantly returned as an image of her lying on the floor of Viper Manor appeared before her eyes. She had been defeated, and yet, she wasn’t dead.

“Where…are we?”, Kidd asked and looked around worriedly, careful not to move her body too much in the process. To her surprise, her eyes met a familiar ceiling which she could see clearly now that her eyes had gotten accustomed to the light. She had voiced the question expecting to find herself in a cold and creepy lab with whitewashed walls and a table with clean steel instruments, but instead, she realized that she was in her cabin she shared with Harle, and immediately felt silly for not having noticed this earlier.

“Don’t worry, mon amour.”, Harle whispered soothingly, her voice like balm to Kidd’s bruised and battered soul. “You’re safe here.”

Kidd sighed in relief and moved her head forward until their noses met. She smiled at the sensation, closing her eyes to relish this moment just a few seconds more. She wished she could stay like this, but knew she couldn’t. There were too many questions left to be answered.

“What…happened?”, she asked, her voice reduced to a mere whimper as she recalled the image of Harle lying unconsciously in Jack’s arms. “Harle, just what did he do?” Her eyes grew damp as she saw Harle’s silent answer in her eyes.

Without another word, she reached out and tucked Harle’s head under her chin, holding her as close as she could.

“Jack…surprised moi. He waz trés strong…moi couldn’t escape.” It was the simplest of explanations, but Harle found it hard to voice. She didn’t want to remember it, even though she knew she was safe now.

“Everythin’s gone ta hell, huh?”, Kidd said softly, stroking Harle’s hair. “First the dragon and Viper, and now Jack and Luccia…they seem bloody eager ta get rid of us. Ya know, I wonder if it would’ve been better had we just given Viper his stupid maps back. All this fightin’, for maps we have no use of…this has gotten outta control too long ago. I don’t think it’s worth it.” Her voice was calm and thoughtful, a contrast to her usual tone. She rarely pondered too deeply on what to do, always being one to follow her feelings rather than rational thought. But now that she did, the thought of simply ending this seemed so close. Peace would have been so easily attainable had they not taken those maps, and she had to admit that she was feeling guilty. It hadn’t been their mission to steal them, they had simply taken them without giving it much thought. She would have never imagined getting into this much trouble because of such a small thing. Getting others into trouble because of it, as well.

Kidd frowned at her own thoughts. This was wrong. It was Viper’s fault, not hers. His fault, definitely. And yet, in spite of loathing and despising him, she couldn’t help but want to give up. They had no idea how many other people there were to back him up. They couldn’t possibly know what Viper was capable of. She had seen what they had done to Jack. If he really was capable of manipulating people, boosting their skills and strength beyond imagination…they was no way of winning.

“Non, we have to stop him. Viper iz dangerous, we can’t let him do az he pleazes. Especially not after zis.” Kidd couldn’t see her face, but was still surprised at the determinedness of Harle’s voice. She must have gone through so much at the manor. Having to fight someone she considered to be a friend, and to be ultimately helpless in her struggle against him, it must have been a nightmare. And yet, she talked about it so rationally, as if her fears meant nothing to her.

As if sensing Kidd’s thoughts, she looked up and met Kidd’s eyes, her face completely neutral. She slowly climbed on top of Kidd, careful not to brush against her left thigh, where a thick white bandage was wrapped around her bare flesh. A small spot of crimson was slowly seeping through, the wound hadn’t completely healed yet.

“And also…we have friendz. We are not seule eidder. We have to do zis, to take revenge for everyt’ing zat was lost.”, she explained seriously, leaning down to plant a light kiss onto Kidd’s lips. It was short, not more than a breeze, and Kidd regarded her questioningly. When she got up again, her lips trembled slightly, and her expression was one of dismay. “We…have to do zis, non?”

“…yes.”, Kidd said and reached out her hands, cupping Harle’s cheeks. They were slightly wet, and both of them looked at each other in silent understanding. In order to defend themselves, to get their revenge, and to save Jack, they had to do this. Because they had lost so much already, they couldn’t afford to give up now. It was much too late for that.

Kidd trailed her fingers along Harle’s face, frowning as they met a streak of raw and hot skin. Her face darkened as she looked at it. The wound was thin, starting less than an inch beside her left eye and running almost down to her ear. From the way it looked it had been bleeding only a short while before, and judging from the depth of it, Kidd knew it would leave a scar, healing elements or not.

The thought of someone being able to mar her lover’s face like that made her feel helpless and angry. Harle wasn’t one to mess with, and anyone that ever got a lucky hit at her had paid dearly for it. But for someone to hit her like that, so close to taking her sight, was frightening. Kidd didn’t think she could ever bear looking into those ruby eyes, knowing that Harle couldn’t see her the same way.

She gently locked her hands behind Harle’s neck, drawing her closer to plant light kisses on the wound. Her lips touched the surface gingerly, careful not to apply any pressure on the already hurting wound. A small sigh escaped Harle’s lips at the contact, and Kidd continued her trail of kisses until she had reached her ear.

“I will never let anyone hurt you, like this, again.”, she breathed.

She meant what she said. If she hadn’t been so careless as to think that each of them would be able to deal with possible obstacles alone, this wouldn’t have happened. As always, it had been her idea to split up, with the simple goal of achieving their mission of finding information sooner. She couldn’t have known that someone like Jack, whom they had almost thought drowned, would appear, but she should have expected it at least. She should have expected any dangerous resistance at all.

Harle simply looked down at her, a weak smile crossing her lips. She couldn’t change what had happened, she couldn’t go back, nor did she want to. Her only hope was to be stronger the next time she met him. She didn’t want to fight him, but if she faced him again, she would do it, without holding back. She couldn’t afford holding back anymore, and neither could the others. They were few, and because of that, they would have to seal their emotions away when fighting. They were through with talking and questioning. It was all coming down to kill or be killed, and Harle was sure she wouldn’t let herself end up being the latter. If it came down to it, she would kill those who stood in her way, if she liked it or not.

Harle exhaled deeply and lay down on Kidd, positioning her left ear right above Kidd’s heart. It beat slowly and steadily, without the faintest hint of dread or nervousness. Harle envied her.

“Do ya…regret bein’ a pirate?”, Kidd asked idly, twirling Harle’s locks around her fingers. It was a simple question, without a particularly sad or grim undertone.

“Non…mais moi won’t be sad once zis iz over.”, Harle mumbled, her voice slightly muffled by Kidd’s shirt in front of her mouth. She was aware that she had been the one proposing to become pirates, mainly because she had thought that Kidd was missing her old life, and also because she hadn’t had satiated her hunger for adventure. She had been under the Dragon Gods’ thumb for too long. But now, she would gladly change her life as a pirate for something much quieter and less dangerous. She felt she could have done without choosing this path for herself, even though she had made some good memories as well.

“Yeah, we should do somethin’ else after this is over, I think I’m getting ta old for this stuff.”, Kidd said and chuckled lightly, which caused Harle to look at her with a frown.

“You are juzt eighteen.”, she said, a curious glint in her eyes.

“Way ta old for this kinda thing.”, Kidd said and waved her hand as if dismissing the very thought of it.

“What about moi, zen? Are you saying moi iz old, mon amour?”, Harle asked and looked at Kidd dangerously.

“What? No!”, Kidd answered quickly, laughing as Harle crawled further upwards, threateningly sitting up and putting her hands around Kidd’s neck as if to choke her.

“Do you have anyt’ing to say to defend yourself?”, Harle asked with a superior voice and a wicked smile.

The instant these words left Harle’s mouth, Kidd put on a saucy grin. “What if I tell ya you’re still as beautiful as ever?”

“Well, zat would certainly change t’ings…”, Harle whispered, releasing her hold of Kidd’s neck, instead stroking her lover’s face. “Merci beaucoup.”, she whispered, meeting Kidd’s lips in a passionate kiss. Her lips were a little rough and dry, but still tasted like they always did, a taste Harle was sure she would never tire of. She felt Kidd’s lips move against her own, responding to her kiss that was so much like all the ones before, yet so unique to her, who had thought she wouldn’t live to feel this sensation and the tingle it caused ever again. She wondered, were she ever to give her last kiss to Kidd, would she know it was the last? She hoped she would, even though the thought brought back a familiar uneasiness which shifted her focus to the theme that had been so predominant as of late. Death. However, she had also learned that the more she thought of it, the less scared she became. She had almost grown used to the thought that her life was a dangerous one that could reach an end around every corner. It had been her choice, and she had accepted it, but it still hurt. Her current life was a chronic illness. She got accustomed to it but the pain would not vanish just because of her acceptance. Nothing but running away could make the pain go away, but as long as she had someone by her side who could diminish her pain even by just a bit, she felt she could put up with it for a little while longer.

Kidd chuckled and used the short break between their kisses to grin at Harle. “You’re bloody easy ta please.”, she said in her usual cocky voice, unaware of Harle’s thoughts. Harle blinked several times before she smiled knowingly.

“Not az facile az you t’ink…”, she growled playfully, leaning down to kiss the other woman with even more fervour than before, while sliding her right hand under Kidd’s shirt, slowly moving it upwards as if to count every row of ribs. Why should she care, about anything outside of this room, right now? Everything she needed was right in front of her, her lover’s eyes daring her to go further.

She felt Kidd shiver under the contact, uttering unintelligible sounds, muffled by their feverish kisses. Harle didn’t need to understand her lover’s words to know what she wanted. She saw it right in her eyes, glittering and sparkling with love and desire for her.

She felt the heat of her skin beneath her fingertips, felt its increasing stickiness as she roamed her body with her hands, leaving no place untouched. Kidd arched her back whenever Harle touched a sensitive spot, moaning softly. Harle drowned in the exhilarating sound of her uneven breathing, which became even more ragged the further her hands went. She ached to hear it, trailing her fingers along Kidd’s burning skin as if marking her territory. She wanted it all. She slowly lifted Kidd’s shirt until she had exposed her whole midriff. She placed a trail of kisses onto Kidd’s firm stomach, her tongue tickling the bare skin until Kidd began to squirm under her. When Harle looked up to meet Kidd’s eyes, she saw the pleasure written all over her face.

“Je…t’aime.”, Harle breathed heavily, the words like steam on Kidd’s skin. Harle felt the sides of her head being gripped and slowly pulled upwards by Kidd’s trembling hands, holding it firmly in place as she came face to face with her lover.

“Love you…too.”, Kidd whispered, her azure eyes locked onto Harle’s crimson ones.

As if to seal this promise they had made countless times before, their lips met yet again in a soft and gentle touch.

While savouring the kiss, a sudden knock at the door startled them and they broke the kiss all too soon. Kidd eyed Harle questioningly, as if asking her to simply ignore the intrusive knock. Harle smiled evilly in response, which could only mean that she was going to leave her to open the door.

“Those buggers really know when ta disturb…”, Kidd groaned and let her head drop back onto the pillow in defeat. “Whaddaya want?”, she barked in direction of the door, hardly trying to sound friendly. Harle laughed at that and gave her a quick peck on the nose before climbing off of her.

“Behave.”, she said and giggled, quickly pulling Kidd’s shirt back down where she had lifted it while doing the same with hers where it revealed her midriff.

“Who iz it?”, she sang out while making her way to the door, Kidd staring after her. Kidd couldn’t imagine where this cheeriness came from, considering they had just been disturbed like this for the umpteenth time during their relatively short while on this ship.

“E…excuse me.”, a shy voice from the other side of the door reached their ears. “May I come in?” She sounded unsure. Harle imagined she was taken aback by Kidd’s harsh greeting.

With a friendly smile Harle unlocked the wooden door and opened it to reveal Riddel standing there with her hands clasped together.

“Bonsoir.”, Harle greeted the other woman, stepping to the side to allow her to enter the room.

“Is it that late already? Did I sleep the whole bloody day?”, Kidd called from her bed, obviously surprised. She wanted to complain when her eyes fell onto Riddel, and she smacked her head for not recognizing her voice earlier.

“Oi, if it isn’t Riddel!”, she exclaimed. “How are ya?”

With a curious glance at Harle’s tousled hair and ragged clothes, Riddel passed the other woman and walked closer to the bed where Kidd lay. “I’m fine, thank you for asking.”, she answered, regarding Kidd. She noticed the bloodied bandage around her thigh, the scratches and bruises on her arms and shoulders, and the thin layer of sweat covering her entire body.

“I’m sorry to see you in a lesser shape. This wound looks terrible. Do you have a fever?”, she asked genuinely worried, stepping closer to her, but still keeping a certain distance.

“Fever?”, Kidd asked surprised, touching her forehead with the back of her hand, feeling her damp skin cooling down slowly. Finally realizing what Riddel had meant, she laughed merrily, shaking her head. “No, nothing like that.”, she answered and smiled mysteriously at Riddel. “Let’s just say that Harle really likes to abuse invalids.” At that, Harle had to giggle as well, coming closer to stand at the side of the bed. “Moi juzt wantz ze best pour mon patientz.”, she replied with an innocent shrug.

Riddel frowned at them, not quite catching on. However, when she saw Harle sitting down on the bed and taking Kidd’s hand into hers, her frown was replaced by a look of comprehension, and her usually pale cheeks turned into a dark shade of red. “Oh, I’m terribly sorry, I…I shouldn’t have come here like this.”, she stuttered, waving her hands apologetically while taking a few steps backwards.

“It’z no problem. Moi wanted to see toi anywayz.”, Harle said calmly.

“Yeah, feel free ta stay. Too late anyway…”, Kidd mumbled a complaint but shut up as she received a firm shove from Harle.

“Merci beaucoup…for taking uz here.”, Harle said gratefully and bowed her head slightly. She had been awake since noon and had already talked to Riddel and about a few things that had happened, but she still wanted to show her gratitude formally, without countless people around.

“Huh? Ya took us here? How’d ya do that?”, Kidd asked surprised. She had been unconscious the whole time, she didn’t remember a thing. The last person she had seen was Luccia.

Riddel shook her head at the question, sitting down on a nearby stool. “I didn’t do much to help you, I was simply the first one awake. I originally wanted to walk to the city to get help because you two would have been too heavy for me to carry, but I met your comrades on the way, and they carried you to this ship. It wasn’t my doing.”, she explained calmly.

“Still, thanks a lot.”, Kidd said, trying to remember what had happened before she had passed out. She remembered herself lying on the floor, unable to move because of Luccia’s card at her throat. She remembered Riddel bursting into the manor, and the streams of tears which ran down Luccia’s cheeks. It seemed so surreal to her now. She even remembered what Luccia had said.

You are lucky she came to save you.’

Kidd’s face darkened at the memory, she wasn’t sure what she should make of this sentence. “Thanks a lot, really.”, she repeated thoughtfully. “I think she would’ve done a helluva lot worse if ya hadn’t showed up.”

“I…I didn’t do anything.”, Riddel spoke, confused. ‘I couldn’t do anything…’

“Why did ya come ta the manor so late anyway?”, Kidd asked, not exactly being one to believe in such coincidental meetings. Harle kept quiet but looked at Riddel as if she was asking the same question.

“I…I came from town and was on my way to the manor when two soldiers attacked me.”, Riddel explained, careful to leave out the part about her having been at the warehouse before. She still wasn’t sure how she was supposed to feel about what she had seen and heard there, and it would be useless to tell them about it if she didn’t even understand it herself. “They threatened me and tied me to a tree, saying I would save their lives with this. I had no idea what they meant.”, she added helplessly. To her surprise, Kidd started to laugh despite herself.

“You’re really prone ta kidnappin’ n stuff, aren’t ya?”, she asked, smirking. Riddel instantly recalled the event when Kidd had been the one using her as a shield to keep the surrounding soldiers from attacking. She could still remember the uncomfortable feeling of the blade of Kidd’s dagger against her throat. She had been afraid, despite Kidd’s calming words.

“I think so.”, Riddel simply answered and shrugged. If there was something about herself that caused her to be the victim of such things, she couldn’t help it. “I don’t think the soldiers wanted to harm me, however. Both of them were women, and while the leader of the two was rather cold, the other woman was so kind as to give me her jacket.”

Kidd stared at the jacket, which she hadn’t really taken note of before, aside from it being a little too large for Riddel. “That’s a Viper uniform…why would they…?”, Kidd mumbled thoughtfully.

“Clair and Eve.”, Harle said suddenly, grasping the situation sooner than Kidd. “Zey needed you az an insurance in case Viper waz at ze warehouse.”

“I assume that was their reason.”, Riddel said solemnly. She didn’t like this talk, it lead her to things she would rather not have to think about.

“Kinda smart of them.”, Kidd remarked almost proudly, but abruptly halted her thoughts. “Wait, how did they know Viper was there? And why is the hostage here and they aren’t? Makes no sense.” However, Kidd knew that the possibility was high that Viper had been at the warehouse, for he hadn’t been at the manor.

“Zey haven’t returned yet.”, Harle said darkly, hoping the two women were alright.

“Viper…I bet that bastard did somethin’ ta them.”, Kidd hissed and clenched her fists, looking at the ceiling. “I’ll have him pay for this.” The thought of what could have happened to Eve and Clair made her sick. It was her fault for sending them to the warehouse.

A sharp gasp disrupted her thoughts and she looked to the side to see Riddel, who had gotten up abruptly, pushing over the stool she had been sitting on before. Kidd suddenly felt a pang of guilt, only now realizing that Riddel was actually Viper’s daughter. It was so hard to believe, and yet, it made things so much more difficult. She saw the sudden fear in Riddel’s eyes and immediately regretted having said something like this.

“What do you plan to do to my father!”, Riddel shouted in horror, her eyes frantically moving from the women to the door and back. The sudden thought of being on a pirates’ ship made her uneasy. She hadn’t given it much thought when she was brought here, her mind too confused to notice anything. But now, the thought of being kept on this ship crossed her mind. She felt so stupid, blindly clutching onto people she didn’t know the intentions of. She didn’t know anything.

Harle stood up, trying to walk over to Riddel to calm her, but as she touched the other woman’s arm, Riddel yanked it off, walking further away from them.

“You’ll let me off this ship right now!”, she demanded.

“Moi iz afraid we can’t do zat unless you listen to uz firzt.”, Harle said offhandedly, not trying to stop Riddel from opening the door and running outside. Using force would just cause her to be even more afraid of them, and that would just not do.

“Listen? I’m supposed to listen to people who want to kill my father! You can’t make me do this!”, Riddel cried, shaking her head violently. Why did things have to be like that? She wished she could just sit in her room in front of her window, simply watching the world without having to take part in it. She just wanted to be a child again, oblivious to everything. She wanted to go back to that time. Back to the time when her “daddy” had still been the greatest person in the world.

“Dammit, Riddel, ya don’t know anythin’!”, Kidd shouted suddenly, sitting up on the bed. “Yer daddy isn’t all nice, no matter what ya might think. He’s a bloody cold-hearted criminal who wants ta kill people like us over three bloody sheets of paper!” She’d had enough of this. She didn’t hate Riddel, but she just had to know what was going on. She had to and deserved to know the truth without any sugar-coated phrases. It was the plain truth that her father was a bastard who didn’t care about other people’s lives but his own. Kidd couldn’t imagine him any other way. Kidd didn’t know if she was angrier about the fact that Viper was undoubtedly alive, or the revelation of Riddel not knowing anything about her father’s doings. How could she not know about such things?

“You’re lying!”, Riddel screamed, covering her ears with her hands. She couldn’t bear listening to them any longer. They were lying, every single word had to be a lie. Her father wasn’t like that, he loved her. He wouldn’t do these kinds of things, he just wouldn’t. The memory of the talk her father had in his office entered her mind, but she erased the thought mercilessly, determined not to let herself be swayed by such things. It was just a misunderstanding, once she met her father, he would clear everything up. Surely.

“You are pirates, how could you possibly accuse my father of being a criminal?”, she asked angrily, staring at them. “You are the criminals!”

Harle half smiled, half winced at Riddel’s accusation. She noticed that, aside of her anger, it also pained Riddel to call them criminals. Poor Riddel, to be thrust into this world of evil without having ever asked for it. Harle didn’t enjoy seeing Riddel being corrupted by this new world she found herself in, but also knew that it was necessary. She couldn’t hide forever. Sooner or later, someone would have stopped Viper, or rather, she would have realized herself. Only that it would have been too late by then. It was necessary for her to know.

“It iz correcte zat we are no saints, zat iz somet’ing odder people are needed for. Encore…your fat’er iz doing t’ingz you have no knowledge of. He haz to be stopped, or many people will have to suffer. Moi doez not expect you to believe uz, mais moi expectz zat you see for yourself.”, Harle said, walking past Riddel who shirked back. She opened the door and walked outside.

“Follow moi.”, she said silently. It was neither an order nor a request. Harle didn’t wait for her but simply walked out into the corridor, heading for the stairs. After a few moments, she heard hurried steps behind her, and smiled slightly. She was too good.

Back in the cabin, Kidd’s eyes followed Riddel until she got out of sight. Harle was so good with these things, so calm and rational. She would make Riddel understand, even though Kidd still believed that a good smack over the head would work just as well.


“This thing is quite bothersome.”, Viper said, obviously annoyed. He didn’t care much about transportations through dragons, he preferred going by ship, which was far less suspicious on top of being more comfortable.

“Transportation is not its primary function, as you may know.”, Luccia answered coldly, hiding her angry eyes from his view. What did he know, about her creations? He had wanted a powerful creature as his own to toy with, to replace a whole legion of his pitiful soldiers, and she had given him such a toy. Now he complained about its size, and his inability to hide it. He blamed his toy for his faults to accommodate. “I fear I do not have the means to make it invisible.” She forced herself to sound calm, for any anger resulted in the resurfacing of her accent, which she had tried to battle for far too long now. She knew it was there, always waiting for her concentration to slip even a little, but she wouldn’t let it strike.

“Take care of it, I don’t care how you do it.”, Viper simply said. He watched the dragon with a contemptuous glare, which matched the dragon’s own expression which was invisible to Viper. Luccia’s lips curved into a sadistic smile. The dragon loathed Viper even more than it did its creator, her. It was a satisfying feeling, and Luccia wondered when the dragon would finally revolt. She knew it would, sooner or later, and she was almost impatient to see these flaws finally surface with full force. It was a failure, and as such, it would not function any longer according to her wishes. It was her failure, a simple underestimation of willpower. Nothing more.

It was merely a prototype, the next one would be perfect. She had hoped to get her hands on a better subject for the next experiment, a strong and healthy body that needed hardly artificial improvement to be perfect. She had thought she had found this subject, but in the end, her will would have been too strong to govern. It was surprising. Despite being the worst of traitors, her will was still strong. It was the will of someone who knew about right and wrong, and still chooses the wrong path with full intent. It was despicable, but Luccia couldn’t kill her, no matter how much she would enjoy seeing it. It would make her even worse a traitor.

In the end, the few materials she possessed would have to do, her time didn’t allow to gather more. It meant little, she had everything she essentially needed. Her ingredients. She could hardly wait to see the face of this shameless woman the moment she was crushed by her own blood. She had already waited too long to see this impertinent smile fading.

Viper would never be able to appreciate her creation, but she never intended it to fit his demands. It was hers alone, created for only this one goal.

“And also, I want a report on what happened at the manor once you join me at our meeting place.”, Viper, whom she had thought already gone, disrupted her thoughts. Luccia averted her eyes from the dragon and looked at Viper. He stood with his back to her.

“Of course.”, she replied dutifully, expecting him to leave her alone now. But he kept standing there for a few moments, and Luccia watched him in bewilderment.

“My daughter…was she at the manor?”, he suddenly asked, his voice changed. If she didn’t know better, she would have thought he sounded almost fearful. Luccia was glad he had his back turned to her, or her crumbling expression would have given her away.

“No, she wasn’t. He and I had been the only occupants of the manor at the time. All of the soldiers had been at your disposal.”, Luccia said with as steady a voice as she could muster, for the first time looking at the man standing not too far away from her, his eyes glassy and his body motionless.

It was better if Viper didn’t know where his daughter was, it kept Riddel safe from his influence. She didn’t want Riddel to become like him, and even though she hated the thought, she didn’t want her to know about her father’s doings. It was enough if Riddel knew about her. She shouldn’t know about these things at all. But she also knew that Viper had sent some of his men to look for his daughter and despite hoping Riddel would just run away from all this, she knew it was all too likely that she would run to them with open arms. There wasn’t anything Luccia could do, she was too far away. But she was also relieved that Viper showed at least a modicum of concern for his daughter, which meant that Riddel had yet to be added to Viper’s list of ‘acceptable losses’. It was only a small relief, though.

“I see.”, came the only reply from Viper, but his voice betrayed him. Luccia noticed, but said nothing and watched him leave. He knew she had just lied to him as much as she knew that he used to lie to her. Their conversations were a single battle of who could lie better than the other, yet neither of them would ever accuse the other, for they both knew that they were bound to each other against their will. It was mere charity of both sides that they had not tried to kill each other yet, though Luccia was always prepared. She longed for the day to finally break free from him. But until that day, she would have to follow him, following her own plans in the dark, where his eyes didn’t reach.


“Tell me we’ll be there soon…”, Clair moaned, clinging onto Eve heavily.

“We’ll be there soon.”, Eve answered.

“You’ve told me that for the last thirty minutes and I still don’t even see the harbour!”, Clair complained, causing Eve to sigh in dismay.

“It’s not my fault.”, she chuckled. “You were the one forcing me to lie in the rain with you. It’s your fault you feel so bad now.”

“I’m not feeling that bad.”, Clair replied and giggled, leaning even more into Eve. “It’s just that my feet kill me.”

“Yeah, we shouldn’t have done that detour to look for lady Riddel.”, Eve said wearily. If she had known they were walking into the opposite direction of the harbour, only to find out that Riddel had freed herself on her own, she would have saved them the trouble.

“Honestly.”, Clair agreed. “But I’m glad she escaped on her own, saved us the trouble of dealing with her. I bet she would have lectured us for hours.” She meant it in a funny way, but Riddel’s behaviour still puzzled her. She was definitely not the person they thought her to be.

“Really, it was kind of weird that she wasn’t scared of us at all.”, Eve chuckled. “Maybe she’s used to this.”

“Probably, rich daughters are such likely targets. Although I’ll be sure to keep my distance from those kinds of rich daughters in the future.”, Clair said and laughed, Eve joining in shortly afterward.

They reached the harbour about half an hour later, and Clair was grateful there weren’t many people around, for she wasn’t too keen on being seen in her wet and mud-covered clothes. Which didn’t mean that she regretted playing in the dirt.

“The ship is right there.”, Eve said, pointing towards the big wooden ship that lay at anchor not too far away from them. She smiled with relief to have finally reached it, but was also slightly worried. “What…what will we tell them?”

Clair looked at her friend thoughtfully. “I’m not sure, but we should hear them out first.”, she said. “You want to know it as well, don’t you? About Harle?”

Eve looked surprised, but nodded glumly. “It sounded unbelievable. What did he call her? A goddess? What was that supposed to mean? And telling us that she killed children in an orphanage…I don’t know which of the two sounds less believable.”

Clair kept silent, not wishing to share her thoughts. She didn’t want to tell Eve that she had actually believed what Viper had told them. It just sounded so…fitting, despite its grotesqueness. But she still remembered this look on Harle’s face when she had tried to comfort Clair, this sad look, as if she tried to hide a thousand sins behind her red eyes. The thought was extremely disconcerting, but it was something she had been thinking about since she had that talk with Harle. She was definitely hiding something, but whether or not it was a secret this dark, she did not know. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to know, either.

“But I guess we’ll find out soon enough.”, Eve said with a smile, but the smile fell as she saw Clair’s brooding expression. She stopped and turned to Clair, taking her hands in her own. “Don’t worry so much. Just remember, whatever they may tell us, we can always run away.”, Eve said encouragingly.

“Can we really do that?”, Clair asked doubtfully.

“Of course we can! If you say we run, then we run. I don’t care where we’ll end up, but I’ll make sure that we won’t have anything to do with all this mess anymore.”, Eve said enthusiastically.

“You would regret it.”, Clair mumbled, turning away from Eve.

“I wouldn’t!”, Eve said earnestly, gripping Clair’s hands harder. “I have to admit, I’m not sure if running away would be the best decision, but as long as I’m keeping my promise, I won’t regret a thing. Just trust me on this.”

“You…really mean it, don’t you?”, Clair whispered. She slowly leaned closer to Eve, giving her enough time to step back in case she was going too far. But instead, she embraced her and pulled her closer, offering her chest for Clair’s head to lean on.

“Of course I mean it, silly.”, Eve said soothingly, stroking the other girl’s hair. “But let’s go, I bet the others are waiting.”

Clair nodded at that and Eve released her to help her climb up the rope ladder to reach the deck of the pirate ship. Eve followed suit, having less difficulties to climb up without help due to her better condition.

Up on the deck, the two women immediately drew the looks of the pirates onto themselves as well as the tips of at least a dozen sabers.

“Hold on!”, Eve shouted, raising her hand in defeat. “Don’t you remember us?”

The pirates didn’t seem to hear her, coming closer with scrutinizing eyes.

“Whaddaya doin’ ya buggers? Leave ‘em alone!”, Kidd suddenly shouted, standing in the frame of the door that lead to the lower decks, her arms proudly crossed before her chest. The other pirates immediately stepped backwards, putting their sabers back into place.

“They might look like crap but those are still Eve n’ Clair, so be a little nicer.”, Kidd added and grinned.

“Thanks for the welcome.”, Eve said and smirked, walking up to Kidd. “I guess I don’t get a ‘welcome back’ hug, though.”

“Yer friend will have ta do for hugs I’m afraid.”, Kidd answered and pointed to Clair. “Good ta see you’re back though, I was gettin’ worried. I guess things didn’t go like they were supposed ta?”, she asked, growing serious. Aside from all the dirt and their wet clothes, Kidd also noticed their battered bodies and tired expressions, and didn’t need much imagination to guess what had happened.

“Yeah, we kinda messed up.”, Eve answered, trying not to sound too depressed. “But talking about messing up, you don’t look very well either.” Eve pointed to the thick bandage around Kidd’s thigh, wincing at the sight of it.

“Ya can say that again.”, Kidd said but laughed, much to Clair’s and Eve’s surprise.

“What’s so funny about that?”, Clair asked with a frown. She still didn’t know what to think of Kidd and acting cheery despite the situation didn’t help any.

“Moody, aren’t we?”, Kidd asked and smirked at Clair, but upon receiving a glare from Eve, decided to stop teasing. “We still got one chance, so nothin’s lost yet.”

“Is that so?”, Eve and Clair asked in unison. Kidd eyed the two in mild confusion, she had a feeling that something more than getting beaten up had happened to them. But she also saw that their patience was low, so she kept silent.

“C’mon in, I’ll show ya.”, she said and turned around, leading them to the captain’s office. The room was dim, the only source of light being a candle on a large table which was covered with maps. Eve and Clair needed to squint to be able to see everyone in this room, but when they did, they gasped in surprise.

“L…lady Riddel!”, Eve stuttered, causing the woman in question to lift her head from the map.

“You two.”, Riddel answered simply, not surprised to see her attackers at all.

“What’s going on here?”, Clair asked abruptly, looking mainly at Harle who stood to the right of Riddel. “Why is she…why is Viper’s daughter here? What’s the meaning of this?” She spoke louder than she intended to, causing everyone to stare at her.

“Geez, I guess we have a lot of explainin’ ta do.”, Kidd said and scratched the back of her head. “Ya do it, Harle.”

Harle nodded, eyeing the ex-soldiers. “Riddel iz our prisoner volontaire. She iz neutral, which meanz she iz neidder against, nor wit’ us. However, she wantz to know ze trut’ az much az we all do. Zerefore she stayz on zis bateau, az our protégé.”

“So she stays here under your protection? It’s probably better that way.”, Clair spoke, eyeing Riddel with a hint of contempt. “Wouldn’t you like to know how much your daddy cares about you?”

“What are you saying?”, Riddel asked, trying to stay calm. She had heard too much already to lose her nerve so quickly. Everything she would hear now could not be any worse that the things she had heard from Harle earlier, and the things she had seen already.

“I’m saying that your dear father didn’t care whether you died or not, he didn’t even want to believe us.”, Clair spat, angry at the memory.

“This just means that he didn’t take you seriously, which goes to show how well he can read people.”, Riddel answered coolly. She would listen to every word they had to say, but wouldn’t allow herself to believe a single one of them until she finally learned the truth. Until she met her father again, she would put up with their hatred for her father as if it was nothing to her.

“You’re saying we should have been more serious then? Like, killing you right on the spot?”, Clair said angrily, she couldn’t stand this woman in front of her. She was so unbelievably cocky despite her situation, and Clair began to wonder just how much she really knew. She had been so unimpressed when she and Eve had attacked her, as if she knew exactly why they were doing it. Riddel was too much of a mystery to not doubt her intentions. She wouldn’t trust her so easily, or anyone else, for that matter.

“That’s enough, Clair.”, Eve said in a low voice, only for Clair to hear. She knew what Clair was thinking, and she still had doubts herself, but fighting each other wouldn’t help them at all. “It’s true that Viper seemed to care little about you at the time, but that’s not the important part. Viper blew up the whole warehouse.” As expected, she received questioning glances, and Riddel looked at her in disbelief.

“Did anything hap

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