{ Yesterday Night }
The tension around the room wasn't something easy to bear. Hakim's darkened eyes glared at Argus, while the latter did the same. No words spoken, but their hands were grasping each other's garments. Argus' fist was raised, acting as if he was prepared to land for a brawl while Hakim, the taller one, stopped Argus' fists.
The meeting wouldn't have ended in this agitated moment if Axel had given them a proper explanation.
It was just a few minutes ago when Hakim came in and talked with Axel about the failed mission. When the captain had realized something about the state misunderstanding the words from that suspicious child from Grimesheed.
"If you have some doubts over Axel, just fucking jump overboard!" Hakim sneered, gripping Argus' shirt.
"Oi, you pigfuck, not in any words I doubt Captain!" He retorted back, as angry as the latter.
"I am just asking for verification!"
"If you trust him, you would never ask for one!"
"Stop!" Axel warned, already having a headache especially after the failed mission, and now they are adding unto it.
Axel had enough. Ever since they came back from that small cay, the two hadn't spoken to each other. Courtesy to that small argument they had while on the mission, Axel thought it wouldn't be such a big deal.
However he was clearly mistaken.
When he called the command crew for an emergency meeting, he had hoped to take advantage of their knowledge and skills to make a decisive plan. When he revealed what he had deduced however, Argus made it clear he wanted to ask some questions.
Axel knew Argus didn't intend to make an impression of having doubts to his captain, rather it was a genuine question of wanting to understand more of the details-especially after the complete bust down operation they just had it was given to be extra cautious.
Only until that Axel realized Argus and Hakim were still under that dispute.
If he could only tell them more, they wouldn't be in each other's throats.
"If both of you can't handle working together, you are not to be taking charge of this operation."
Axel seethed, warning both of the men and actually considered taking Draco and Felix as substitutes for these two.
"Anyways…" Elijah drawled, glancing at everyone, especially his captain.
"As Mr. Doyle and I were talking about," He started when he realized Axel wanted him to continue.
Hakim and Argus pushed each other off, they took their position far from each other in the room. Although the tension was still there, both of them decided to not look each other in the eyes—especially when the two of them had icy cold glares.
Elijah continued.
"Since we can't have the luxury of evidence that proves that, whatever the shield words said that the compass is in the hands of the mayor's, we can't also run the risk of not being able to know."
"Aye, so it's best that we 'ave Argus and Calev, just like the original plan, ye see?" Doyle added.
The old man grabbed the map that Felix had provided and glided his calloused index finger across it.
"Arrr, this be La'Crove Mansion, tis' also near the armory of the mayor's guards, deep in the heart o' the Azura Forest. A good hour's from the main town, but we be right through!"
Doyle said, dragging his fingers to the location he was mentioning.
"It might be better if we send Calev and Argus first. As what your original plan was, Argus will have to steal the compass for us while the combatant can assist him. It's a huge mansion so we don't have to send too many people for that before we get busted."
Elijah said, looking at the map before glancing to Axel for permission of the plan.
Axel thought for a second. Since it's the mayor's residence, guards will be swarming everywhere in the vicinity. They didn't need unnecessary encounters, Axel wanted this second time as fast and as safe. They had no luxury to stay here any further.
"Intel of the mayor." Axel's voice was low, he sat back in his chair and looked out his windows.
"He lives in his second residence in town." Argus spoke, remembering what information he had gathered. Although he was still not in the mood because of what just happened between him and Hakimm, he had to let Whis own personal issue slide.
"The mansion is his main residence, but since he's a busy mayor and the island has 3 towns, he is basically caught up on his job."
Argus grumbled the remaining words. And since he already got the grasp of the plan, he wished for this meeting to be over soon.
"Ascertain your intel is as clear as the water."
Hakim mumbled on his own, glaring at Argus' way.
"Was there any information about the mayor obtaining a treasure?" Axel inquired.
"None, but was the cay." Argus simply answered.
[ None? Surely, if I am right that the compass is in the mayor's hand, wouldn't that be a great feat to boast around. ]
"Alright then." Axel concluded.
Axel, truthfully, was also uncertain of this fate. He already failed tonight. He had failed countless times to get his hands over this compass. This night wasn't that special, he was prepared to fail again. However, even so they continued.
[ So what's worrying me this time? It's just like as always, we fail, then we do it again. ]
"Felix, anchor the ship not far from here. Find a location for our frontier. And Calev?" Axel declared his orders before asking the whereabouts of the combatant.
"Brig and asleep, Zeki put him to sleep." Elijah answered the question.
Axel nodded understanding the situation, it might have been a bad idea to let Calev into the mission earlier, apparently he was calm but he was still dangerous.
[ He better be tamed by tomorrow. ]
"Let Zeki take care of him, and Felix orient the combatant's about his role, savvy." He added one more order.
"Well follow the plan."
Everyone nodded, no one dared to take his orders questionably. And despite Argus' curious mind wandered off, he decided it was best to just go with Axel's conclusion. Hakim didn't trust the child's words no matter what, but Axel's decisions, words, and orders were different as always for him.
They all left to collect their team and deliver the concrete plan that was strategize. Through the night, the moon shined and cascaded the now anchored ship behind the huge cliffs. Felix furled the sails, the stars twinkled underneath them, the waves soothingly moved them. The wind was cold, as so did the accumulating clouds that were forming in the dark skies. The calmness of the night remained eerie, the whispers he heard were the warning he wanted gone.
"I will finish my part of the pact, I have been trying for years. So don't rush me even further."
Axel whispered against the wind.
…
{ Present }
On the beach, not far from the enormous Mad Treasure, sat more than ten men in the sand.
Maps and blueprints of their rendezvous and plans all spreaded out in the white grain sand, the fire in the chopped woods was the only source of their light. There, they meticulously reiterate their plans to ensure the heist was going to be executed flawlessly.
From What Axel had realized in his deduction from the previous night, he was certain that the words the kid had given him wasn't to be taken in literal terms.
Everyone listened intently, their face laced with seriousness and focus. They memorized and familiarized everything, including the tiny details of what seemed to be the escape plan.
The gun master made everyone understand that he had already planted the necessities for distractions in the right places earlier this afternoon, and all they needed was to memorize where he had put them.
Everybody nodded in understanding, some raised questions about important details if they had ever failed. Axel ensured that the plan would not fail which made everyone feel assured.
" Calev, man the perimeter and let the thief do his job."
The captain recalled, his eyes warning the man as he understood that Argus was still on his hunt list after that commotion at the ship.
Calev nodded, understanding the seriousness of the situation, not meddling in his affairs to the mission.
During this time, Argus would normally laugh and make a joke to the combatant but he did not voice any sound. His face had been woven with an expression that is unrecognizable to anyone who had not seen him everyday.
So different.
On the top of the mission was the very mobile and alert Argus. Served as the crew's spy, so far from his personality but despite that a very skilled one in his job. One would say he was on par with their main battlemaster, the combatant who had the highest number of kills.
However he could never touch that accolade, simply because he was not one for killings although he would not hesitate to do so.
What he was on par with no one is, being a thief.
Whether it's for information or valuable objects, he would steal.
A high quality thief.
Argus, who grew up with both parents being pirates and scavengers, had learned from a very young age the art of treachery, the art of stealing.
He had never missed ever since, never failed to fetch, to retrieve, took, at the end of every mission his hands were never empty.
Despite his loud and playful personality, he was a top notch spy. The job required quietness and timidness.
To all the people that had known him, they wouldn't think he was fit for it. But he knew where the lines were drawn. He was serious when he was needed to.
He could separate his job from his life; what role he was supposed to play from who he was.
Both worlds in his hands, he played it fairly and expertly.
"We'll rendezvous to the Mayor's armory the moment we reach the estate."
Hakim informed the captain, his interest only fixated on the mayor's storage of ammunition.
He carefully hoisted his pistols to his waist and adjusted every gun and bombs he carried with him. He ushered his gunmen to follow him to move to their first stations.
The captain started to disperse them one by one, by himself walking beyond the combatant and the assassin. They did not make any sound, careful and fatal they walked.
Although the forest seemed thick and dark, the island of Azura was not difficult to maneuver.
Through thick leaves and darkness, the forest ran deep. The sound of the ocean waves no longer audible as they got far away from the beach. The only thing they could hear was their footsteps, snapping every twig they stepped into.
The huge white mansion of the mayor finally turned visible in their eyes as they got nearer. The bushy leaves of the forest finally came to an end as they finally saw the dirt road. Signaling the men, they left the formations and went to their designated stations.
"Aye, by the edge of this forest is where we'll be at." Axel stated, he surveyed the surroundings.
"On your signal, we'll attack if you fail." Axel reminded. The warriness never left him ever since.
Everyone was alert and fast. Hakim and his men went their different ways, taking charge of the armory. Calev took off with Argus, advancing right away to the estate.
As expected, there were guards around the estate. Even in the darkness of the night. The well lighted mansion was swarmed with regalia, posed as securing factors of the mayor's house. Some were standing around some designated areas, some were walking around and patrolling.
"Fuck, there's too many of them." Argus whispered, expertly camouflaged himself away from anyone's vision.
"Kill." Calev mumbled, and without any hesitation and awareness of Calev's voice sounded so low Argus' gave him the permission.
Soon the Mayor's guards who stood oblivious perished to the hands of the combatant in a swift movement. Unable to know what had happened, death had come for them.
Quiet as they fell, was also how cleaned was the slit on their throats.
Argus, with his expertise in stealing, had managed to secure himself a way to get inside. Fear was nothing as he climbed over the walls through the empty veranda of the second floor. Calev followed him quietly.
The two men expertly raided the mansion, taking the whole household under control without even having anyone knowing or noticing the bodies that lay on the ground, dead.
The bodies were fastly increasing. The other crew had been waiting outside the huge gates of the mansion, waiting for the right moment to enter. Axel scanned everywhere, to the corner, to the center, to the top, to the bottom, his adrenaline rushed in his veins as he fought his warriness with excitement and thrill.
Calev and Argus had gone into their different ways while inside the mansion. The lack of people inside had bothered the spy, it was eerily empty as if they had known something was bound to happen.
However he did not discuss such worries with Calev. They continued to search, in every room they raided just to find something that would resemble the look of an icy jewel, a compass made of diamond. Argus and Calev ran out of the many rooms in the mansion, ransacked all of it yet nothing was there.
They had found treasures, jewels, gold, silver but it wasn't what they needed to find.
There was just nothing, not even a simple ordinary compass could be found.
"Fuck." Finding nothing was frustrating Argus, but finding nobody was suspicious —when there were too many guards outside.
"Then why is it empty here? He thought.something was odd.
"Calev, open the front door and signal the captain to enter. I don't think we can find the godforsaken object with just the two of us."
Although Argus was frustrated over a potential harm to his reputation as a perfect thief, this was a serious problem that he needed to dwell into rather than worry about his feats.
Calev did not answer but followed through Argus' words. He opened the door of the mansion, before giving them a signal. Since he had taken care of almost everyone that was guarding the house, he judged that it was alright to pull the trigger of the borrowed pistol.
Upon hearing the signal, Axel immediately ordered his men to carry out the gates that were in his way. With expert men of swords they tore it down easily. The pirates ran inside the estate, crashing every grass on their feet, heavy in their footsteps, they ran.
"Captain, the house was emp—" Argus' voice disappeared.
The pirates in the estate's grounds stopped midway when a group of guards dressed in uniforms of what seemed to be the navy managed to hold them hostage on the grounds. The event stopped almost immediately, with their breaths and weapons on their hands, the guards pointing every rifle they had in the directions of the pirates, they prepared themselves for battle.
Within a moment, out of everyone's realization everything turned down. Calev was knocked down to the ground by another man, struggling to escape the hold of a much bigger guy than him. His eyes seeped with murder as soon as he glared at the man that pinned him to the marble floor.
Axel could only stare in surprise at how another ambush had fallen upon them. His eyes not leaving an immobile combatant, the crew obviously scared not for the situation but for the man that was pinned to the ground.
"Cap'n, yer orders! Master Calev be in danger!"
A man beside him called, walking towards him in a protective motion as one of the guards started to walk to the man.
Axel could easily throw a war, but when a crew of his was under hostage even the pirate king would hesitate.
The pirate beside Axel grounded himself, putting the captain behind him, not letting the guard get close to Axel.
"Ye fucker, wha' do ye wants from 'im, aye." He threatened the two guards who stood in front of them.
The other crew started to point their guns and cutlass and swords at the guards who were in danger.
The captain eyed the officers, scanning their uniforms which made him laugh out loud.
" Pussies, such copycats."
Axel was insulted as soon as he realized these men were just mere guards imitating those bastard marines, even without how they were dressed.
A mere guard to the mayor himself.
"Ye motherfucker, son o' a cur! Let go o' me 'n I will scuttle ye, ye shitbag. Better hold me tight 'n ye'll Godspeed cur. I will end ye."
Argus' voice was heard throughout the mansion as he was being carried out by two large men, pinning him down next to an angered combatant.
Argus cringed in surprise at how he saw the demon in the eyes of the combatant had surfaced.
The last thing they all wanted for tonight was Calev losing control.
"Ahoy me scallywag pirates!"
A huge laughter was then heard. The owner of the voice slowly entered the vision of everyone. He stood next to the two pirates on the ground.
" Although I can't say I am one o' ye anymore. Wha' ye say pirate king, am Mayor meself now?" He bemused, addressing himself with his new job.
No one was impressed, not even Axel. The old blonde man, even at his luxurious and expensive clothing couldn't hide the presumptuous pirate behavior around his actions. He was a rag used to trying to take an important job.
" Amused me, Mayor." Axel sarcastically said.
He walked towards the former pirate bravely, showing everyone how brazen and mighty a pirate king could be. The two officers cowardly backed out, making way for him to continue his way towards the man. With a smirk in his mouth, he sarcastically greeted the man when he finally stood with him.
The playful demeanor almost left as he took a hold of the Mayor's throat, slightly lifting him up from the floor. They all gasped, guards immediately pointing all their guns to the pirate king whilst Axel's crew backed him up with their own weapons pointing at the enemies.
"Now both parties have their own hostages."
Axel, tilted his head to the side where his two men were pinned in the ground.
" Let them go, and I will show you mercy." He threatened, this time his voice deadly serious.
The mayor struggled in Axel's hold, scratching his hands in the process. Axel showed no reaction but tightened the hold in his neck. He was rather pleased and entertained about the old man in his grasp.
He found it amusing how despite the mayor's effort to free himself from him, there was no sign of fear as he faced the pirate king. Mockingly and amusingly, the mayor's blue eyes held something he took suspicion of.
"You can't… kill me, even… if you want."
The mayor whispered slowly, gasping for air in between words as he struggled to speak. Axel only tightened his grasp, choking the poor man in front of his people. They were all altered, prepared to save their mayor but Axel men were guarding him too.
"I…have wh–what…you want." The mayor was coughing hard.
Axel eyes widened, slowly letting go of the man's neck asking him through his glare the whereabouts and howabouts.
"You think I wouldn't know, boy." He taunted the pirate king who remained silent.
"The pirate king docking in my port, you think I won't station my guards to check on your activities. I knew you were coming." He maniacally laughed, his smile getting more mischievous as he did.
Everyone stared at him like he was a psychopath.
"You think I won't do such a thing, especially when I know you have a demon in your crew." He continued, glancing at the now dangerous man who was still on the ground.
Calev remained still, his body never moving an inch to struggle the hold in contrast to what he had done from earlier. He was calm, his breath normal yet his eyes bore slaughter. Axel recognized the eyes of the murderer from his combatant, his mind going was in a frenzy as he silently hoped for the man to stay in his headspace and not fall into the madness in his soul.
Nothing was going to come out well if he came out of that hold.
And yet you angered him." He slowly said, his voice was no longer threatening.
A mock disappointment in Axel's voice was thrown to the mayor. The crew saw the glint in the combatant's eyes, it was ironic that the darkness of it was glinting. Mantras were suddenly sung within the pirates, the guards looking at them confused.
"Mayor Gerald, they are....."
One of the guards started to speak. His eyes observe the pirates who were slowly retracking their steps, slowly giving a huge gap as they step further.
"Praying?"
Alarmed, Gerald crouched down and lifted the combatant's face and scanned it. There he saw the chilling eyes of what a murderer was, no emotions, no light, nothing but red of blood swirling in his vision as rage took him over, glaring dangerously at the mayor. Gerald then looked at the man who was holding the combatant with seriousness.
"Don't let him go at all cost." He warned.
"You two! Why are you holding him, he is just a thief. Let him go and manage the real demon!" He said in mere panic, his voice desperate.
The two men let go of Argus which was a bad idea as he immediately stabbed both men in their feet and arms with the dagger he took from Calev's hoister earlier.
"I told you to hold me tight or you will regret it."
He said annoyingly, the men screamed in pain as they stumbled in fall trying to stop the blood from pouring. Argus stepped next to the captain, cracking his wrist and shoulder to ease the tension in his joints.
"You let go of him," Argus suddenly said, taking a step towards the man who held Calev on the ground and threatening to attack the guard.
Gerald panicked with the thought of letting loose of the once famous rogue, the combatant. Gerald stopped Argus immediately by finally taking out the object he was hiding in his pockets.
The object dangled as Gerald held it by its silver chain. It shined right through the gleaming moonlight, lights were reflecting and pointing towards every direction, blinding everyone who might see the rays too much.
The pirates stared in awe, especially the captain whose eyes shined the same way the object does.
[ The compass. ]
"You can have this, just don't let him let loose." Gerald managed to croak out, fearing for the worst as he sensed the danger from the demon.
Argus finally recognized the look on the combatant's face that he failed to be aware of earlier. The thought of being alone with the demon earlier sent shivers down his spine. Argus glanced at the captain who nodded to him in understanding.
They needed to leave fast.
"Not too brave now, mayor?"
Axel laughed at the man who was now crumbling.
"I was not planning to capture any of you." He honestly, said.
" I knew you were coming for this, as I was told to give to you. Leave the island and don't come back."
He warned tossing the glasslike compass to the captain whose smile never ceased but only widened.
"Honor this, and leave and we will never harm any of you." He said, the huge gap between how he acted earlier to what he was now made Axel smirked tauntingly.
"You should have told us in the first place fucker. Do you knew how hard it be to fuckin' climb your tall house eye?"
Argus cursed, finding his effort wasted, he started to walk away and approach the pirates who were now standing far from the center of commotion unable to hear from where they were. He told them they could leave from what the captain had signaled to him, disappointment in his face as if he was a kid that was told his field trip was suspended.
At the same time, Argus was determined to get the crew out of the proximity of the combatant. He ordered some of the men to follow the trails of the gun master and his men, sending him news of the aborted mission. Thus letting them know a demon might escape tonight.
The guards hesitantly let them go, letting them pass the gates like some sort of guests who were leaving. Argus felt lame, a walk of shame was done with his lead as they started to go back to the beach leaving the captain and combatant in the estate.
"That was shameful, walking away like that!."
He whined loudly earning a few yes from the men.
"I reckon 'tis better, Master Calev be on it'" One of them replied, referring to the combatant's sudden change of aura.
"Aye! Holy God I was so scared I thought that would be the end o' me adventure as a pirates."
"Master Argus, do ye reckon Master Calev might get his scuttles for tonight? " One asked curiously, wondering too loudly about the fate of those who are still there.
"Only if the captain can't stop him."
He answered bitterly, still sour about how he had become part of such lame treachery in his career.
"Blimey, thank me god I survived then!"
One exclaimed, raising his cutlass through the air as if they had achieved victory. Everyone followed suit, surviving the rage of the demon is indeed a great victory.