After we made it to port, things didn't get easier.
Our allies were having a bit of trouble adjusting to the atmosphere of this world and they weren't feeling well.
"What's with this air? It feels like I'm inhaling some kind of weird fog..." Jallah said.
"That would probably be magic. It feels fantastic to us. Like we can finally breathe again after being on Ignitus for so long. But I can't imagine how it feels for you," I said.
"I recognize the energy from the two of you. This really is a world is magic, isn't it?" Leiso said.
"It is. And if the atmosphere makes you sick, perhaps you should try to stay away from heart stones..." Isabella said.
"Agreed... Until we get used to this world, we should probably stay back," Carlos said.
We continued walking and almost immediately were surrounded by a legion of soldiers.
"HALT! IN THE NAME OF THE LOKAN ARMY!" One of the soldiers shouted.
"Lokan?" I said.
"The name of the country. And this place is called Port Sagral," Isabella said.
Suddenly, I remembered that I didn't care. But I appreciated her informative speech, regardless.
"What do you people want?" I asked.
"You are Mizik Iratus, yes?" One of them said.
"No," I said.
The soldier looked confused.
"Umm...what is your name, then?" He said.
"Hmm...Aldaril. My name is Aldaril," I lied.
"He's lying! He matches the description of Mizik! And the pink hair of that girl is a dead giveaway!" Another soldier said.
"Well, I tried. But I guess that means you all have to die," I said as I readied Vengeance.
Everyone prepared themselves to fight and...
The soldiers looked absolutely terrified of us.
"U-umm...aren't they the ones that just took down the entire Dark Knights guild...?" One man said.
"That's what the report said... Can we handle something like that?" Another said.
"Look, are you going to attack us or not? We just want to get out of here. If you try to fight us, we won't spare anyone. But if you run away, you get to live. Sound good?" I said.
"Mizik?" Isabella said.
"I'd rather avoid more bloodshed if possible... But truthfully, it might do me some good to blow off more steam," I said.
I was generally pissed enough as is due to my curse, but being accused of raping that filthy evil fox woman made me see red.
How dare she...I had never been so insulted in my entire life...
If I ever found her, I would tear her limb from limb and watch her bleed to death.
"If you say so. I can't say it really bothers me much anymore..." Isabella said.
"Are you two...okay?" Rune asked.
"No. But this isn't really the time to discuss it," I said.
"Maybe we should just take them all down. Then we won't have to worry about them causing issues later," Carlos said.
After he spoke, several orbs of blood swirled around him while the air began to heat up.
Leiso stepped forward as five tendrils of water topped with rotating metal drills leaned over her.
"Listen...we truly do not have the time to be bothered by you lot. If you value your lives, you will disperse. If not...perhaps we should add to the body count?" Leiso said.
"Sh-she's dressed like The Mad Admiral! Is she from Elysium!?" One of the men said fearfully.
"Elysium...?" Leiso mumbled quizzically to herself.
"ARE YOU WORKING WITH THE MAD ADMIRAL!? ANSWER US!!!" A man appearing to be the leader of the group said as he finally stepped forward.
"I AM LEISO AKALI! ENFORCER SEAT 1, THE IRON TSUNAMI! I AM ORDERING YOU TO CEASE AT ONCE! DO YOU UNDERSTAND, MAGGOTS!?" Leiso roared.
I felt myself cringe out of habit when she used that voice. That was her commanding tone...
The men all backed off and even the leader looked noticeably worried.
"Then...are you declaring war on Lokan, Enforcer Leiso of Elysium?" The captain said.
Suddenly, I came to my senses and realized that there might have been a gigantic misunderstanding...
They thought she was from Elysium based on her clothing...and that she was part of their military.
Additionally, Leiso seemed to be perfectly aware of this. Ultimately without realizing she was about to start another war.
Oh well...a distraction is a distraction. We can gather the heart stones while they're fighting.
"Leiso works directly under The Mad Admiral and so do we. Also yes...we're declaring war," I said.
I shot the captain in the head.
"IF ANYONE GET'S BLAMED FOR THIS SHIT, IT MIGHT AS WELL BE ME!" I shouted.
"That's...out of character. Nice going, Mizik. Impressive. I hope you have a plan," Jallah said.
"Yeah. Collect the stones while they kill each other, then have Iris get us the hell out of here. Seriously, screw this world," I said.
The rest of the soldiers began to panic and started running away a moment later.
I shot a few more of them in the back for good measure.
"I heard that you had been cursed, but this is a tad extreme, Mizik..." Leiso said.
"I'm just in a bad mood. Overlook me," I said bluntly as I calmly walked towards one of the smaller ships in the port.
The rest of them followed me and we boarded.
While on deck, I fired a shot into the air to get the attention of the few people standing around.
"You have three choices. Stay here, help us, and we won't kill you. The second is to try to resist...I'll kill you if you resist. The third is to run away. I won't chase you. Pick one," I said.
The sailors immediately ran past us and off of the ship.
I went below deck and threatened the few down there as well. In short, no one wanted to stay and help us.
As I stepped onto the top deck, I started looking over the ship.
I was a decent vessel made of wood with a large sail.
From what I could tell, it was a small merchant ship.
"Mizik, this ship is very primitive. Is it like this everywhere here?" Leiso asked.
"This entire world is a far cry from the luxury of Ignitus and its technology. No cars, no planes, no air conditioning...no plumbing..." I said.
"No...plumbing!? What the hell!?" Jallah said.
"Even Avernia had some form of that. We had bathrooms too. But if all else fails, dig a hole..." I said.
"That's...kind of gross, isn't it?" Rune said.
"Hm...just like in ancient times on Ignitus, then? I was born before that sort of thing was invented. It might be hard to adjust, but none of us have a choice, it seems," Leiso said.
"Yeah. I remember that nonsense all too well..." Jallah muttered.
"Umm... Changing the subject... Mizik, can you locate the Walskold trench on your map?" Isabella said.
"Yeah, I'll do that," I said.
"Excuse me, but how do you intend to get us there? A crew of six might not be enough to operate this type of ship. At least I can't properly remember if it is or isn't..." Leiso said.
"Your Aspect is water, right? Can't you just move the ship for us?" I asked.
Leiso seemed to think about this for a moment.
"I suppose I could propel us forward, but what about wind? Gavin isn't exactly here anymore..." Leiso said.
"I can use wind magic to propel it forward. Just give me a moment to make the spells," I said.
Everyone got to work at that point preparing the ship to move. By everyone, I mean that Isabella checked to make sure that everything was in working order. Jallah helped some as well. Rune and Carlos didn't seem entirely certain about the mechanics.
It was a primitive sailboat, but from the history of Ignitus, they stopped using those about 700 years ago.
We finally got the ship moving shortly after all of that and it went pretty smoothly.
Leiso, despite being weakened currently, was still managing to use her Aspects very well. At the same time, I made sure to cast wind magic to keep the sails blowing.
I also steered the ship towards the correct location.
Jallah sat atop the mast in the crows nest to keep a lookout. This was also to strike down anything that approached us menacingly with lightning. He was having a little too much fun with it...
"YARR, CAP'N! THERE BE WATER AS FAR AS THE EYE CAN SEE!" Jallah shouted.
"I'm so sorry... He's just excited to be in a world of magic, is all..." Rune said.
"We're pretty used to it, but I guess we were excited to see the technology on Ignitus for the first time as well," Isabella said with a smile.
Rune also gave an uncomfortable smile as Jallah shouted again.
"SHIVER ME TIMBERS!"
"SHUT UP, JALLAH!" I shouted.
"AHOY CAP'N!"
I resisted the urge to tell him to get down, only because that was where I wanted him.
Later that day, we found a kitchen on the ship and stopped to catch some food. I cooked as usual, and everyone was able to eat.
Of course, we had to have someone keep watch on the top deck.
We would all sleep in shifts. Two people would take turns one night while everyone else slept, and we went on a rotation.
Honestly...it was good to be around these four again. I still missed Michael and Gavin along with all of our other friends and the people of Ignitus. But looking at them reminded me again of why I hated Difar so much.
* * *
The next few days were fairly simple. We stopped occasionally to catch food and I made extra for everyone's inventories.
The four of them had actually done a fantastic job of keeping theirs organized. Rune had brought many knives and ranged weapons in hers from the time when we fought the Corruption.
I was worried about how she would be able to help, but Jallah assured us that Rune would be an invaluable member of the team.
Not that I didn't believe him, but she seemed happier relegating herself to do more menial tasks. She was a very diligent worker.
Although I didn't doubt for even a second that she could kill regular people very easily.
Leiso was concerned with the command structure of the Enforcers, but since all of our positions were now irrelevant, I was delegated as the current leader of our forces.
Isabella and Cassandra were the second-in-command, while Leiso would focus on keeping the remaining three in line.
It was perfect for an idea I began thinking about...
This ship was called 'The Lucky Coin' and we were its crew.
But this particular situation made me think...
What if we could travel to other worlds as a group and fight the Corruption?
We would obviously need an airship of some sort... And it would have to be capable of passing through world barrier. Additionally, it would have to survive extended periods of time in the Firmament while keeping the crew safe.
It was just an idea, but I was starting to like it... I even caught myself almost smiling again.
While I was thinking about these things, I heard Jallah shout.
"ALL HANDS ON DECK! SHIP SIGHTED! AND IT DOES NOT LOOK FRIENDLY!"
"Where Is it?" I asked.
"UHH...IS LEFT PORT OR STARBOARD?" Jallah said.
What in the name of Iris is he talking about? Port? Starboard?
"PORT, YOU IDIOT!!! GET IT RIGHT!!!" Leiso yelled.
I looked to the left and picked up the telescope I kept next to the wheel...
The one I stole from the captain's quarters.
When I looked through it, I saw a massive ship coming straight at us.
There was a menacing visage of a sea monster carved into the front and the sail had the image of a serpent skull wearing a witch hat. It was in front of two bones shaped like staves.
"Is that a pirate ship? It doesn't look friendly... I'll sink it if you want me to," Leiso said as she glared at it.
"No need. I think I recognize the sail. That ship is called The Leviathan. On it is the most infamous Pirate Queen in the entire world...and she's going to help us," I said sinisterly.