- Navy Dormitory -
Inside the dormitory, all six members called for the mission are preparing in their own ways. Mirage, Kalev, and Anya, being the swordsmen of the group, spent most of the afternoon sharpening their swords. Though, to be fair, Kalev wasn't just sharpening his sword—he was also reading his spellbook.
Esme, as usual before a mission, headed to the training field to clear her mind with some boxing practice. Damian spent the entire afternoon deciding which weapon to bring and eventually settled on a staff slightly shorter than himself. At seven years old, Damian had already reached a height of 3.03 meters. But as night fell, the young Oni left the dormitory. Meanwhile, Allana spent the rest of the afternoon training her transformation speed, which involved switching races as quickly as possible.
**- Port -**
The first to arrive at the port was Kalev, who got there so early (5:30 AM) that he decided to wait on a bench.
Kalev: "I hope someone shows up soon... I hate waiting."
After half an hour (6:00 AM), another person arrived... it was Allana, who came running. She was completely exhausted and drenched in sweat, looking as if she had been running from a movie psychopath.
Allana: "*pant* Huh... *pant* where... is everyone?"
Kalev, who had nearly fallen asleep from waiting so long, heard Allana's voice and quietly walked over to her.
Kalev: "Looks like they haven't arrived yet."
Allana: "Kalev?... Wait... does that mean I got here before... them?"
Kalev: "Them?... Oh, 'them'... I guess so... why?"
Hearing this, Allana broke into a wide grin and started laughing.
Kalev: "Allana? Are you okay?"
Allana: "Hahahaha~~ I got here before those two? I can't believe it! I'm gonna tease them so har-"
Mirage: "Tease who? Huh?"
Allana: "AHHHH!"
Mirage appeared beside Allana out of nowhere, as if carried by the wind (very Batman-style), without a single drop of sweat, as if he had just taken a leisurely stroll through a park.
Allana: "Damian, of course! You know how he is, always running late!... Hahaha..."
Mirage: "Damian hasn't arrived yet? That's strange, he's usually early."
After this interaction, the three who had arrived decided to wait for the others.
**
Anya was running to the port because she was late, having had some things to take care of (translation: she overslept and lost track of time...). On the way, she started hearing strange fighting noises. Normally, she would have thought it was just someone training early, but for some reason, she had a bad feeling about it.
Anya: 'I know it might just be in my head... but what if it's one of those three... well, it wouldn't hurt to take a quick look...'
As soon as she reached the source of the noises, Anya saw three people fighting.
Anya: "I knew it..."
The scene before her was Damian and Esmé fighting against a man who appeared to be around 1.90 meters tall and about 35 years old, with brown hair and wine-colored eyes. His outfit resembled that of a stage magician, but the colors were different from a typical magician's attire—white with light blue, similar to the Navy's colors. To complete the look, he wore a dark coat with the word "JUSTICE" written in white.
Anya: "That coat... Bagness."
Seeing that Damian and Esmé were fighting against Vice Admiral Bagness, Anya decided to stop the fight. But as she started walking toward them, she saw something magical.
**
Leading the charge, Esmé advanced at high speed in her Light Stance, while Damian, who was behind her, attempted to thrust his staff at Bagness.
Damian: 'So this is the "aura" of someone who holds the title of Vice Admiral... I can't even comprehend what it is, it feels so magical...'
Bagness: "Gahaha, it's been a while since I've found recruits this interesting. So, I'll show you a magic trick that'll blow your minds! Come at me!"
As he said this, Bagness threw playing cards into the air (specifically above Damian), which, for some reason, stayed suspended. Then, with a quick motion, Bagness made Damian's staff pass through his sleeve, and with that... the magic began.
Bagness: "Rediriger et multiplier."
As he uttered these words, Bagness raised the sleeve of his opposite arm toward Esmé, who didn't even have time to react as a staff struck her head at high speed, knocking her unconscious.
Meanwhile, Damian, who was a bit further away, saw what happened but was still confused.
Damian: "Huh?"
What Damian saw was his own staff, which had entered one of Bagness's sleeves, come out of the other sleeve, delivering a precise blow to Esmé's face, who didn't even register what happened. And if that wasn't strange enough, milliseconds later, Damian was pushed to the ground as he felt several blows to his back, which had come from above. When Damian looked up to see what had hit him... it was his own staff?! But how? Wasn't it in the Vice Admiral's sleeve?
With countless questions swirling in his head... Damian realized one thing: his staff had multiplied... so Damian understood what had happened... well... not entirely, but partially...
Damian: "Rediriger?... Ah! Redirection and... multiplication (multiplier)... so if I do this..."
To test his theory, Damian pulled his staff out of Bagness's sleeve, and as he did, the weight pinning him to the ground disappeared. After retrieving his staff, Damian stood up and faced Bagness, seeking answers. But before he could say anything...
**
Anya couldn't believe her eyes. She thought she had seen it all when she saw Kalev use that strange power, but apparently not. She had just witnessed an object multiply, and not only that, but the same object appeared in the sky. It all felt like the street magic she used to see in her hometown as a child...
Anya: 'That's so coo-... no, now's not the time for that... today's mission day.'
Leaving her childhood memories behind, Anya quickly headed toward the three...
**
Just as Damian was about to speak to Bagness, he heard footsteps approaching. When Damian turned to see who it was, he saw Anya running toward him with an angry expression. Seeing this, Damian ran to where Esmé had fallen, picked her up, and kept running.
Damian: "I'll see you two at the port!"
Knowing Damian's tendencies, Anya knew he only ran like that if he had done something massively stupid.
Anya: "DAMIAN!!"
Esme, who was unconscious, woke up confused by Anya's shout.
Esmé: "Hmm~ Wha- wait... that voice... is that Anya?"
Damian: "Guess so."
Esmé: "Crap... then run faster!!"
I bet you, dear viewers, are a bit confused about why Damian and Esmé are acting this way, but don't worry, I'll give you a quick summary, alright?
*Flashback music*
It all started a few months after our protagonists began training with Instructor Zephyr. The incident happened on an ordinary training day, specifically the first day of combat training. As you might imagine, Damian and Esmé were pitted against each other, since they were the two best hand-to-hand fighters. And, if you, dear viewer, have at least half a brain cell, I think you can guess what happened, right?
But in case you don't, I'll give you a hint by offering three options, and you can guess what went down, okay?
A. Damian and Esmé had a cool, problem-free fight.
B. Damian managed to get Esmé to help him with a crazy plan to attack Instructor Zephyr.
C. The two had such a bloody fight that Zephyr had to intervene to prevent one of them from dying.
With those options, I'll give you about 5 seconds to answer...
Answered? Great.
After causing such a commotion, Anya decided to punish them by making them kneel on the training field for two days and three nights, without food or water. But that wasn't the worst part... The worst part was that Anya didn't let them move a single muscle, and on top of that, those punishment days fell on a weekend.
What? That sounds bad enough, you say? Well, that might be true for a normal person, but for these two training and combat maniacs, it was worse than anything hell could come up with.
*End of flashback*
Back to the present, Anya, seeing the two troublemakers (Damian and Esmé), thought about chasing after them, but Bagness stopped her.
Bagness: "Before you go after them, miss, could you spare me a minute for a little trick?"
Anya: 'I want to go after them, but...'
"Ahh... sure, Mr. Bagness."
Saying this, Bagness pulled out a flashlight and a white sheet from his coat. He then began miming hanging the sheet on an imaginary clothesline. When he finished, he released the sheet into the air, and magically, it didn't fall. Anya, seeing this, was completely amazed, wondering how he did it.
Anya: "How? How did you do that?"
Bagness: "Gahaha~ miss, if I told you... wouldn't it ruin the point of it being called a trick? And besides, I haven't even finished it yet, so hold on."
With that, Bagness continued. After hanging the sheet, he handed the flashlight to Anya and instructed her to point it at the sheet.
Then Bagness began playing with his shadow, making simple shadow animals. But something strange started happening—the shadows, which were clearly made by hands, began to look realistic, as if the animals were actually there.
Anya: "Wow~ that's amazing!"
Bagness: "Don't be surprised yet... I was just warming up."
With that, Bagness snapped his fingers and continued making shadows. This time, however, they were of two people...
Bagness: "Sit down, the story's coming."
**- Port at 6:20 AM -**
After 20 minutes with no news from anyone, everyone (except Kalev, who had been reading the whole time and didn't notice the time passing) was getting bored of waiting, but...
*Crack!... Crack! Crack!*
A noise near the forest could be heard by everyone at the port, and after a few moments... Damian and Esmé came running out of the forest, looking back. Because of this, they didn't notice they were running straight into the sea and fell into it.
*Ploft* *Plop*
The three who were there didn't even have time to react, and by the time they realized what was happening, Damian and Esmé were already falling into the water. Without thinking much, Kalev, Allana, and Mirage also jumped in. But when they did, they noticed that Esmé had managed to reduce her density enough to not sink in the sea.
Moments before hitting the water, Mirage and Kalev noticed the presence of a certain blonde who had jumped in with them...
Kalev: "All-" *Ploft*
Mirage: "Ser-" *Ploft*
Allana: "Huh?" *Ploft*
The moment Allana's waist submerged in the seawater, her body lost all strength, as if it had become four times heavier. Her brain couldn't even make her arms and legs fight for survival. Her body felt as if it were tied down by chains pulling her to the bottom of the sea, and it got worse when her head also submerged... the seawater, as if it had a mind of its own, crept into her mouth and nose, completely filling her lungs and causing her mind to black out, leaving Allana unconscious.
Meanwhile, Esmé, who had reduced her density, was pushed by the waves generated by the three people who had jumped into the water. These waves pushed Esmé further away.
Mirage and Kalev, realizing that Allana had fainted, panicked for a moment but managed to calm down and dove to rescue the blonde. Even though Allana hadn't been in the water for more than five seconds, she had sunk a good 15 meters into the sea. Seeing how quickly she was sinking, Mirage and Kalev increased their speed to reach her. Once they did, each grabbed one of her arms and brought her back to the surface.
As for Damian, who had fallen in with Esmé, he sank quickly due to his weight and height but immediately started swimming. However, he noticed something strange... it's really hard to swim with four arms... But ignoring that, Damian quickly surfaced and saw the commotion surrounding Allana. Seeing that she was already being carried by Mirage and Kalev, Damian ignored it and noticed that Esmé was floating out to the open sea. So, seeing that she was alone, he went after her and brought her back to the port.
Esmé, after seeing Allana's condition, ran over to the two who were already there.
Esmé: "What happened to her?"
Mirage: "She was stupid! She jumped into the sea with us to get you!"
Kalev: "Calm down, Mirage, getting worked up won't help anyone."
Mirage: "Worked up? Who's worked up here?!"
Seeing how his friends were reacting to the situation, Damian went to see if he could resolve the confusion.
Damian: "Esmé, do you know CPR?"
Esmé: "Huh?... Yeah, I do."
Damian: "Then what are you waiting for? Go!"
Hearing Damian's words, Esmé ran to do as he asked. After that, Damian went to calm down our favorite wolf boy.
Damian: "Mira, you know if you keep worrying like this, you're gonna start growing white hairs on your head... wait... I think it's too late to warn you about that..."
Mirage: "Dami... now's not the time for jokes, Allana needs hel-"
Not letting Mirage finish, Damian gently grabbed his head and turned it toward Esmé, who had managed to clear Allana's lungs, allowing her to breathe normally again. Then Damian turned Mirage's head back to where it was originally.
Damian: "Already handled it."
Mirage, seeing that Allana was okay, sighed and went to her side. Damian then turned to Kalev and bowed his head in apology.
Damian: "Since Mira forgot, I'll do it for him... sorry about what happened here."
Kalev: "It's fine, demon boy, I know how a situation like this can affect someone."
Damian: "Phew... then there's just one more thing to handle."
Having resolved Mirage's temper issue, Damian also went over to where Allana, who had now recovered, was talking with the others.
Damian: "Hey, blondie..."
Allana: "What is it, Dami?"
Damian: "Turn into an Oni."
Allana: "???"
Damian: "Quick!"
Though she didn't understand why, Allana decided to transform into an Oni, and the moment her transformation was complete, Damian gave her a hard smack on the head. Allana didn't even register what had happened.
Damian: "So now you remember you have an Akuma?!"
Allana: "Ow! Ow! Ow! I know I messed up! I'm sorry!"
Hearing Allana's apology, Damian let her go and stood up, turning his back to her.
Damian: "Listen here, Allana... have you already forgotten about your... mother?"
Hearing about her mother, Allana's expression turned completely serious.
Allana: "Of course not... how could I..."
Damian: "Then why did you jump?"
Allana: "Esmé was-"
Damian: "Were you alone with her?"
Allana: "No..."
Damian: "Then don't sacrifice yourself like that, if you die... who's going to avenge your mother?"
Allana: "I'm sorry... it won't happen again..."
Damian: "Good, now that the situation's calmed down..."
Having finally resolved all the chaos, Damian turned toward the forest.
Damian: "Hey! You two over there! Are you coming or just gonna keep watching?!"
At his shout, everyone turned toward the forest, and from there, two people emerged. First was Bagness, clapping, followed by Anya, with a serious expression.
Bagness: "Congratulations! Not everyone could stay calm in a situation like that."
Damian: "Thanks?"
Anya: "Answer with more confidence, Damian, you just showed you could be a natural leader."
Damian: "Tcharara~ no need for all that, I know I'm amazing."
Bagness: "Since you managed to handle this problem... I guess it's time to set sail, don't you think?"
Hearing Bagness's suggestion, those who were soaked were about to protest, but...
Bagness: "Gahaha~ just kidding! I'd never make my subordinates set sail while they're soaking wet."
With that, Bagness grabbed a tarp nearby and threw it over the soaked group.
Bagness: "Atelier de vêtements."
With those words spoken, Bagness then removed the tarp, revealing that everyone who had been soaked was now dry and wearing outfits similar to but different from what they had been wearing before (they had the same Navy aesthetic but in a different color).
Kalev: "What kind of sorcery is this?"
Allana/Esmé: "Wow! How did you do that?"
Mirage: "What?!"
Damian: "I'm more and more impressed by your Akuma! Tell me, what's its name?"
Hearing Damian's question, Bagness made a thoughtful face for a moment before answering.
Bagness: "It's the Damasu no Mi!"
Damian: "*Disbelieving look* You just made that up, didn't you?"
Bagness: "Well... yes, but it's not my fault."
Damian: "What do you mean?"
Bagness: "When I looked it up in the Akuma no Mi encyclopedia... there was nothing about it... everything I know about my Akuma, I discovered on my own."
Damian: "Got it."
Bagness: "Alright... anyone else have any questions?"
Everyone: "..."
Bagness: "No one? Great! Now that everyone's dry, are you ready to go?"
With everything finally resolved, everyone turned toward the ships, waiting for Bagness to show them which one was his. Along the way, they passed several boats and ships, some decorated by high-ranking sailors who liked to show off their arrival, and others with no decorations, usually belonging to sailors who preferred not to be easily recognized.
After passing a few more ships, Bagness stopped and pointed to his ship.
Bagness: "So, what do you think of Le Mystère?"
Bagness's ship had a circus theme, specifically resembling a stage magician's setup (pretty obvious). The entrance to the cabin had a blue and white circus tent. On the hull, at the stern, there were two fans of playing cards on either side of the ship. And speaking of the hull, it was covered in symbols of cards, hats, and rabbits. As for the cannons, instead of regular gunports, they were replaced with white curtains bearing the Navy's symbol in blue. Above the masts, the crow's nests looked like top hats. Lastly, perhaps the most important part of a ship's decoration, the figurehead was a rabbit emerging from a top hat.
Seeing the ship's decoration, everyone had a different reaction.
Esmé: "It looks more like a pirate ship..."
Bagness: "No, it doesn't!"
Kalev: "It looks too flashy."
Bagness: "That's kind of the point."
Damian: "I've seen worse."
Bagness: "Not sure if that's a compliment or an insult..."
Allana: "I thought it'd be bigger."
Bagness: "Look at the size of our group, we don't need a big ship."
Mirage: "I hope there aren't any clowns inside..."
Bagness: "Don't worry, Mirage, they won't be coming with us."
Anya: "I like the aesthetic."
Bagness: "At least someone likes it..."
Having heard everyone's opinions, Bagness boarded the ship with a sad expression, and the rest followed.
Bagness: "Do any of you know how the ship's equipment works?"
Hearing the question, everyone nodded, as navigation was one of their subjects.
Bagness: "Good... then get to your stations! And prepare to set sail!"
As soon as the order was given, Mirage and Allana went to the top of the masts to release the sails, while Kalev and Esmé stayed below to arrange the sails that were being released. Anya went to the helm to control it once the ship started moving, and Damian went to retrieve the anchor from the water.
Bagness: "NOW!"
The moment Bagness shouted, everyone began to move, starting a smooth departure.
To Be Continued