HELIOS stood at the port of the ship, mentally accessing himself, making sure he didn't forget anything. "Two vials of sapphire potions, three packs of ammo, inhaler, cuffs, warrants…" he muttered listing everything they used for a standard operation. It had been so long that he's done an officially standard operation and he wanted to make sure he wasn't making a mistake.
The Tribunal stood behind him and he could feel their aura as the other ship extended a bridge towards them. "The Narvach who feels fear," the voice slithered into his mind again.
"Shut up!" He willed himself, and he felt the voice go quiet. Whatever force the voice was, it only wanted to taunt him and he had started to adapt to it. Maybe when the time comes and the Marshal trusts him enough he would let her know, but for now, he needed to earn his place in her company.
He glanced at the bridge, then turned backwards for a moment, his eyes meeting the commander's but she acted like she didn't notice, keeping a straight face. He turned back and ascended the metal bridge.
In addition to the Tribunal, they'd picked five more soldiers to make the investigation go faster, the ship was a large one and could easily contain about five hundred occupants, almost twice the size of Felis' ship and almost as big as the Silent Sorrows itself.
They all crossed the metal bridge, boarding the ship. Someone Helios assumed to be the shipmaster came forward to welcome them. "Marines of the Sagittarium," he bowed slowly. "Greetings." He was an average looking man, with a sailor's cap on his head. He had a fair complexion and a certain smoothness about him, and that was the first thing that put Helios on guard.
Inferring from the kind of clothes that he wore, he was dressed like a normal sailor who had spent a little too long on the sea, but his face appeared too smooth. He didn't have the usual weather-beaten disposition sailors usually have. Neither did he have beards, and his mannerisms, although they did seem fluid enough for anyone else, but for someone like Helios who understood the biology of a human being deeply easily caught the unnaturalness in his movements.
"My name is Joe Reagan," he said, glancing at Helios directly. "Whom do I have the pleasure of addressing?" He smiled again.
"My name is Helios Charlemagne, Narvach of the ElderTide region," he announced himself as he allowed his body to assimilate the potion he'd ingested earlier. He dissipated the power flowing through him as it spread from his body in a cloud of a blue steam. This was a technique only Epic ranked Cryptids can achieve. What he did now just imposed his aura on the entire ship, giving him an air of command and mentally crippling people who couldn't necessarily comprehend the extent of his abilities.
He saw multiple people on the ship sit down, scanning to see lots of them still standing. This was another test to see how strong they were and the results made him realize that most people on the ship were trained or at least not normal.
"And to what do we hold the honor?" The shipmaster demanded, ignoring the fact that he just spread his aura around the ship.
"Routine investigation," he replied, turning to the Tribunals. "We have information that a pirate ship will be sailing this waters this week, so we have been patrolling," he smiled. "You are the third ship to pass, we hope we can search your ship and get this over with as fast as possible, ehh, what do you think?"
The man, Joe, glanced at Helios with a chuckle. "I am no stranger to these waters and for one I know who the Narvach is and you are not him. He is a bloated man and not as respectful or as friendly. I should know, I have crossed paths with him more than once, so either you tell me who you are, or we are going to be having a big problem."
Helios smiled as he sensed the subordinates they brought along tighten their grips on their weapons. Benjamin however stomped his ax's hilt on the floor softly, signaling them to relax. "Well," Helios placed his hand in his pocket and the shipmaster shifted a bit. The former however brought out a piece of paper. "You will believe a warrant then?" He demanded.
Joe glanced at the papers for a while, glancing up at all of them. "Then I must be mistaken," Joe said with a sigh. "You can of course search the ship. I hope my earlier cautiousness will not be taken as a sign of disrespect to your badge, I deeply apologize," Joe bowed.
"Oh, no. It is good to be cautious, there are so many pirates traversing these treacherous waters now, one cannot be too careful."
He nodded. "Although, if you don't mind, I would like to ask you a question," Joe asked.
"Oh, about what?" Helios replied, scanning the ship. He could see the ship's Helmsman staring at all of them with contempt in his eyes. The man was old, with long beards and a staff rested by his side as he steered the ship slowly.
"There were rumors that your ship was sunk by Godblast. Many sailors were saying it, and went to a bar the last time we were on land, about four days ago. A boy was there, bragging about the Irontides pirates and how their captain Godblast blew apart your crew."
Helios glanced at him. "Oh yes, that is indeed true." He smiled. "That is why security tightened." he answered truthfully, although the Marshal was yet to talk to him about the events that happened that day he believed that the Sagittarium was on its edge.
While Helios was led into the lower deck, Han Wei and the rest followed them. Han signaled to one of their subordinates and he headed south, analyzing the ship as he walked past the several rooms in the area. One of the sailors followed him, acting as a guide, however Han turned him away immediately.
He shuffled the deck of cards as he reached a certain area, the soldier with him frowning. "You seem a little discontented," Han spoke with his eyes closed, smiling slowly.
"I just thought we were supposed to inspect the ship, we've just been walking," he exhaled.
Han chuckled. "Oh, you really want to inspect?" He demanded. "Pick out one from these cards," he instructed.
The soldier sighed and reluctantly drew one card from the deck. "What card is that?" Han demanded.
"I don't know, it's a woman sitting down, I think that's the addition sign hanging from her neck." He said with frustration.
"Oh, the high priestess, we are here then," he smiled and then opened the door to a certain room. He could sense that two of the crew members of the ship were secretly following them, but he paid them no heed. "Search the room," he told the soldier before sitting down and resting his back against the wall.
The soldier didn't argue, he turned around, turning over every corner of the room with swift and aggressive movements. Nothing stood out, just three worn bunk beds, a dusty mirror hanging crooked on the wall, and a dim lamp flickering weakly in the corner. "There's nothing here, sir," the soldier spat out, his tone laced with frustration.
Han rose slowly, his eyes narrowing as a strange sensation crawled up his spine. His cards whispered a warning. Ignoring the soldier, he fixed his gaze on the mirror, its surface oddly unsettling. After a long moment, he marched over and, without hesitation, slammed his fist into the glass.
But instead of the expected crash of shards, there was only a faint pop and his hand plunged through the mirror as if it were water. A thick red mist began to ooze out, curling around his arm like smoke.
Panic surged through Han. He yanked his hand back immediately. Before he could react, a thud echoed beside him. He turned to see the soldier crumpled on the floor, blood gushing from a deep wound.
Two of the crew members stepped out from the shadows, blades glinting in the dim light, their expressions cold and menacing.
"You really shouldn't have done that," one of them growled.