Before the world adventurer had arrived, Iverem led a man in a brown coat to the cell with Ini. The adventurer looked up from his slumped state by the wall. His eyes widening at his visitor.
Iverem cleared her throat. "You have a visitor. It'll be your last visitor before you are sent to one of the fortresses."
She walked away, leaving the adventurers with the man. Ini forced himself from the ground of his cell, lowering his head. "Master."
The visitor removed his hat, revealing shaggy golden hair. His gold eyes glowed, forcing Ini's head lower than before. "You failed."
"I-I didn't expect them to spoil our plans."
"You must not have cared about your crew members enough then. If you did, you wouldn't have failed."
Ini's fingers clenched, remembering what Paolo had said. "That's not true," he said indignantly.
The visitor stared him down, his defiance irritating him. "What a useless pawn you were."
Ini frowned. "Pawn?"
"I told you where the core was with the primary aim of you finding it and causing some chaos. You failed something so simple. Humans can be so useless."
"But you told me you wanted to help me avenge my crew."
He laughed mockingly, leaning into the cell. "That's because you humans are so gullible, clinging unto something as meaningless as emotion…Disgusting. Anyways, I still have more pawns to play with. I would kill you, but I think the fortress will prove more fitting for your demise. And don't forget, I'm watching. Slip up once…" the ground of the cell shook, his eyes glowing deep gold. "And it's over."
.....
The gentle wind blew the Cross Heart Adventurer's flag, the adventurers doing their own thing. Paolo read a book on a beach chair, Aline watched Shinzo as he did pushups, her lips watering at the sight; Luna drank champagne while reading a magazine and Octavius ate a piece of cake. They had finally gotten over their shock of earlier that day, now enjoying the evening breeze.
"The sea sure is quiet," Octavius commented, cleaning the cake crumbs on his lips.
"Seems so," Paolo mumbled, flipping to the next page of his book.
"When will we reach Analus Island?" Shinzo asked, doing his two hundredth pushup.
"Like five days or a week," Luna said, taking a sip from her whisky bottle. "Oh and be on look out, the tides are usually at their worst during this time."
Octavius narrowed his eyes. "Isn't that your job?"
She hummed, not bothering to move from her spot. "It's still surprising how calm the sea is."
"Have you morons ever heard of karma?" Shinzo said, ending his exercise.
Aline pouted. "You're already done?"
"I'm surprised you could sit and watch me for so long."
Aline waved her hand dismissively. "Who cares about you?" she wet her lips. "Those abs are the ones speaking to me."
Luna snickered. "They are pretty solid. My bed is always open if you need to be warmed up." Shinzo gave her a look while she just laughed. "Don't look at me like that, I was joking… unless."
"Luna," he dragged.
Octavius' stomach rumbled, his eyes on his empty plate. "Aline, I'm hungry."
Aline stood up from her spot on the floor. "I'll prepare some food."
"Don't put carrots," Paolo yelled. "Or cabbage."
"Yeah, yeah," she said, drifting into the kitchen.
The four adventurer's sighed in utter bliss, enjoying the peace of the ship.
"It's so quiet," Luna mumbled, taking a swig of her whisky bottle.
A loud bang had the four of them jumping, the sound fizzling into the air before it disappeared once more.
"What the hell," Shinzo mumbled.
The four of them stood up and moved to the side of the deck. Two ships sailed past them. One had Jolly Roger with a dragon at the bottom of the skull and the skull with a black headband with a dragon while the other ship had a jolly roger with the bones under the skull as swords.
"A pirate battle," Paolo said, his eyes glinting as he leaned forward. "So cool."
"Should we really lounge here while they throw canons into the ocean," Octavius said.
"Not safe, we should leave," Luna said, standing up as another canon shot from one of the ships and slammed into the sea near them. "Shinzo, to the helm."
He nodded, moving into the control room. Aline came out of the kitchen as the ship started to move. "What's that loud noise?"
"Some pirates are fighting," Octavius said, pointing at the ships.
Aline looked at the two ships through binoculars. "Oh, I've seen those flags before. One of those ships belong to Blade Pirates, the second strongest pirate in Manu."
"Which one?" Paolo asked.
She pointed at the one with the sword jolly roger. "That's them. The other guys are new, I've never seen them before."
Paolo hummed before pulling away from the rails. "It's best we get out of here… Oi Shinzo, speed it up."
"Roger captain."
The ship moved faster until the ships were out of sight.
"Lucky us, leaving on time," Luna said, settling back in her beach chair.
"Karma," Shinzo dragged, coming out of the control room.
She waved him off, flipping open her magazine. "What could possibly go wrong?"
.....
Thirty seconds later, Luna's question had been answered. Rain drops hit the deck forcefully, the ship rocking back and forth on the disastrous ocean.
Shinzo glared at Luna, his mouth thinned. "There are something's you don't say, and that was one of them."
She laughed nervously, hitting her forehead. "Silly me."
"Let's get it under control," Paolo said. "Luna, tell us what to do."
Luna nodded. "Shinzo, go back to the helm. Paolo and Octavius the sails need to be moved fifty degrees to right. We need to use the wind to our advantage. Aline get our dinner ready with five cups of booze. We're riding this storm."
The adventurers cheered and ran off to do what they were told to do. In less than thirty minutes, they rode the storm. The storm began to dwindle, the harsh rain stopping, leaving behind the evening sky.
The Cross Heart Adventurers stared at the sky, the small evening breeze blowing at the hair on their heads.
"This should be an unspoken rule, but I'll say it anyways… Betrayals are the worst thing," Shinzo said, turning his head to look at his crew. "If any of you betray Paolo, I won't be afraid to cut you down." He shifted his gaze to Paolo. "And if for any reason you let anyone trample on your position as captain without them groveling, I will leave the crew."
The deck was silent as Shinzo stared at his captain, no hesitation whatsoever. Aline clicked her tongue at his threat.
"Don't be a fool, like we would betray Paolo."
"I was just saying it to be clear bimbo."
"Well we didn't need you to."
The two started arguing, the stiff atmosphere completely dissolving. Luna cut their argument short, a grin on her lips.
"Aline get the food and drinks, let's have a party."
Aline did as she was told, running into the kitchen to get food and drinks. As the moon hung itself in the sky, the Cross Heart Adventurers sang, dance and ate, not needing any reason to celebrate.