Of course the scientist was busy with the sample. Ted wanted to find out everything Mad could possibly reveal without his equipment, and therefore the cult leader did not trouble the genius.
Instead, Ted sat down with the captain of the airship and tried his best to find out who the man really was.
"I have heard nothing about you," he said, running his fingers along the brim of his glass. "I don't know you by reputation. Must you deny me the joy of knowing you by name?"
"My name's not something that would help you know me better. Quite the opposite. I fear that giving it to you might cause you to think less of me," the captain replied. "A pirate with a name that no one recognizes…that is a sad state of affairs."
Ted chuckled. "Do you know who I am?"
"You are cor Tobias, a philanthropic man of great wealth."
"And…?"
"You are known to have no enemies vocal enough…or brave enough to have no one call you a murderer, but with all due respect, cor, you have blood on your hands. No one lives to tell tales about your dark side."
"Yet there are tales about said dark side," Ted said, casting a glance towards the gun hanging from the pirate's belt.
Ted and his friends were not in a position to start making unreasonable demands.
"No, there are no tales…there are trails. Trails of bodies."
Ted knew he had been a bit too careless, but the pirates were a different type from the socialites of Neul and the Diamond Palace. Pirates considered cutthroat moves like the assassination of the mercenaries quite honorable. The vermin-like men were unfit for society, distastefully primitive and out of control, but Ted had to admit that they occasionally had good taste.
"It's a pity that I have made the mistake of letting you hear about it," he said, calming down and letting the captain pour him a drop of wine. "But it doesn't seem like a bad one. You are an efficient man. You don't mind a few bodies scattered around the bottom of a lake?"
"The way they used to bury them," the captain sighed. "I sometimes wonder why we ever stopped giving our dead to the waters."
Ted knew the answer, as did anyone who had attended basic school.
"Because the waters are full," he said, leaning over the table in a way that he hoped seemed rather ominous. "If that means heaven can't accept more people in, then so be it, maybe we don't deserve such things. But the lakes are full."
It was true. There was not enough space in the whole wide world of lakes. Some bodies of water had already been tainted by the corpses. This had caused a shortage of fresh water in some parts of Sennas.
What Ted could not explain was the decision to stop burying the dead in the sea. He knew there had been an argument about equality, that the people who lived further inland would be envious of those lucky enough to be located by the sea, but he knew that wasn't enough to make such large decisions.
There had to be something more sinister at play when it came to oceanic burials.
Ted didn't know if he wanted to know. The seas were told to be older than the sun, and while the science of stars disagreed, cor Tobias did not.
Water had been here since the beginning of time, and it would be here after the end of days.
"Nowadays, great deadrousers of the old era no longer exist," Ted continued. "That means there are no dangers in burying the dead on lands."
"Are we sure that the deadrousers are gone?" the captain questioned him. "Or are they just very quiet?"
Ted laughed. "If you like entertaining yourself with worst case scenarios, more power to you. I don't enjoy those thoughts at all. It's better if you don't know what happens to you once you die."
"Maybe it is so. Say…"
A frown visited the face of the captain.
Ted didn't want him to feel like there were questions that couldn't be asked. This was not due to cor Tobias liking the man. Ted just knew exactly when to smile and when to offer something more of himself.
"What is it, Cap'n?" he asked with a soft voice.
"It appears to me like I take a huge risk, having you aboard, cor. I am going to ask for something more than money."
Ted reviewed his most recent memories. He had been keeping the dice in his hand on the deck, perhaps carelessly, he had to admit that. He feared the captain might ask for them in return for his protection.
"The dice," the captain said, leaning towards Ted. "Give one of them to me."
Ted was puzzled. "Just one?"
"I don't want to leave a bad taste in your mouth, but I have my needs. Rest assured that I am going to keep it, not sell it."
Ted considered his options. Of course, he could always decline, summon a demon and fight for his life as a horde of wretches came for him.
He did not trust demons any longer. It had been foolish, so very foolish of him to worship any beings. He alone was worthy of his own praise. No gods or devils could suffice. He was a self-governed entity.
He did not feel the same way about the dice any longer.
"You can have it," he said. "But I will give you the one with the idiot demon's symbol. You must understand that I need the good ones for myself."
"I have done summoningwork before," the captain replied and accepted the payment. "It's never easy, and it's never what you expect."
"Really? You are an occultist?"
"I prefer the old-fashioned term. Witch."
"Aren't witches women?"
"Not in my tradition, no, not exclusively."
"That's strange," Ted laughed. "Perhaps it is just me being curious but…have you ever summoned a god?"
"Does a cranky sun god count?"
Ted almost dropped his glass.