"DID YOU FIND ANYTHING, Tibia?"
"No nothing. What about you Fibula?"
"Just this moss. Found a bunch of it growing all over the place. I figure we can use it as a fire starter once it's dry enough."
"Wanna head back?"
"No. Let's explore a bit more. We need to find a way out of this place."
They continue down the narrow path single file — solid bluish green rock wall to their left — a seawater channel wide enough for ships to sail through to their right. Icicle-shaped stalactites give off a natural glow that reflects off the water's surface making it easy to navigate.
They pass by two tunnels which Tibia marks with a circle indicating they haven't been explored yet. If it had been explored an X would be marked over top the circle.
Continuing onward they discover a body at the end of the path, on its back, hands folded across the stomach. Taking precautions they slowly approach.
"You think she's dead?"
"No. Look at her chest, see how it rises and falls. I think she's sleeping."
"Who would sleep in the middle of a labyrinth?"
"Don't know," answered Fibula, "you go get the doc. I'll stay with the girl, try to get a fire going."
"Okay got it. Wait which one?"
"Seeing how this 'young lady' is unconscious. I suggest the female doctor."
"Got it. I'll also inform the Captain, so he knows what I'm doing with S.I."
"Welly-well, well, well, well what do we have here?"
A pencil-thin brunette, wearing brown tortoiseshell glasses, making her green eyes really pop. She has on what was once a white t-shirt now stained from sweet, dirt, and other things. Brown shorts, and black boots.
"Found her unconscious while looking for a way out of here." Said Tibia.
"Fascinating," said the woman squatting down beside the body, "she wasn't on my ship and obviously not from your ship.
She looks well nourished, plenty of sun so that rules out stowaway."
"Is it possible she's from outside the labyrinth?"
"I believe you're correct… Sorry, what's your name again? You members of the Bone Pirates all look the same."
"I'm Tibia. The one by the fire is Fibula."
"Pffft! Ha, ha, ha." The doc starts laughing out of nowhere. Tibia just stares blankly at her, confused by her sudden outburst.
"Wait, what… was I… doing?" She managed to ask through fits of laughter, tears forming in the corners of her eyes.
"You were examining the girl, doc."
Through blurry eyes she looks over at Fibula as he tosses more moss on the fire, pinkish smoke rising up. Slowly the doc's synapses start firing.
Covering her nose and mouth with her shirt, she says four words, "Clear Moss, stop… burning."
The world swam around her, warping and bending into the most bizarre shapes, then faded to black.
****
I opened my eyes, blink a few times then sit up taking in my surroundings.
Six beds in total, three along the wall to the right of the door, and three across from those. A wooden roll-top desk, a chair across from the door, with a hammock hanging near the desk. Walls, floor, and ceiling are wood. There's a square window to the left of my bed, with some light pouring in.
"Now where am I?" I say with a dry scratchy throat.
"You're in the sick bay aboard the infamous pirate ship The Kraken." Said a chiseled good looking man walking through the door by my bed.
𝑂ℎ 𝑚𝑦 𝑔𝑜𝑑 𝑠𝑝𝑙𝑜𝑜𝑠ℎ. 𝐼 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑘 𝐼 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑐𝑎𝑚𝑒 𝑎 𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑡𝑙𝑒. 𝑊𝑎𝑖𝑡, 𝑖𝑠 𝑖𝑡 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝑡𝑜 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑎𝑛 𝑜𝑟𝑔𝑎𝑠𝑚 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑏𝑦 𝑙𝑜𝑜𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑡 𝑎 ℎ𝑜𝑡 𝑔𝑢𝑦?
He has thick blonde hair — his piercing blue eyes paired nicely with his Mediterranean skin tone — with his body build he could easily be a male model.
He's rocking black shorts and nothing else. Unless you count the gold earring in his left ear.
"Here, drink this." He said, handing me a cup with one hand, while dragging a chair over with the other.
I take the glass and greedily drink from it, only to spit it right back out. "Ack! What the hell is that?"
"A detoxification medicine for Clear Moss. An S-ranked plant that has nasty side effects depending on exposure levels. They rang from: uncontrollable laughter, hallucinations, nausea, lack of appetite, cognitive/memory problems, insomnia, and of course death.
Other factors include exposure time, body mass, age, and genetics. That's all we know about the plant, due to lack of access to said plant."
"What makes you think I was exposed to this Clear Moss?"
"One of the pirates was burning a bunch of it near you. My partner Stephanie realized what it was, but she too succumbed to its effect.
Luckily she said what it was before passing out. So when the pirates brought you both in I knew how to begin treatment."
"Where's Stephanie now? Is she recovering elsewhere?"
"Her exposure wasn't as severe as yours. She's already recovered and left to investigate the area you were found."
"How did you administer the medicine? Considering I was unconscious."
"I gave you a suppository."
"Whoa! Back up a sec pervert."
"Names Ian. Dr. Ian Kaine, not pervert. I am a licensed and well respected practitioner in medicine."
"Your name is now Doctor Pervert because you stuck something up my ass while I was unconscious."
"I gave you the necessary emergency medical treatment required while you were unconscious and yes without your consent. If I hadn't done so, Miss. Ungrateful, you could've died."
"Kino. My name is Kino Kurosaki."
"Well Kino, for the record I did not give you a rectal suppository."
"Then where…did…you," realizing what he was insinuating I'm seething, "tell me you didn't stick the suppository in me vaginally you perverted fucking quake!?"
"Look at your left arm."
I look to see a small hole in the crook of my arm from where a needle was inserted.
"Hee! Ha! Ha! Ha! You should have seen the look on your face." Ian laughs so much he begins hyperventilating.
I just glare at this quake of a doctor until he calms down.
"I was joking about the suppository," said Ian, "I gave you an IV drip when you were first brought in."
Before I could ask a question in walks a skeleton dressed like a pirate. "Oh good you're awake."
"Seymour, this is Kino. Kino, this is Seymour." Ian gives a quick introduction.
"Greetings. I am Seymour Dukey."
"Pffft! Ha, ha, ha."
"Did I say something amusing?"
"You said see more dookie."
"That is my name. Seymour Dukey, or Vice Captain Dukey."
"Wait, does that make you this ship's number two?"
"Yes, that is correct."
I start laughing all over again.
"Oh I see what's going on," said Ian, "Seymour your last name is slang for shit, your first name indicates you want to see more of something, and number two is also slang for going poop.
"She's clearly still suffering from the effects of Clear Moss." Ian pours me another drink, hands it to me which I accept, drinking it slowly this time.
"It seems the intelligence of the world is dropping." Remarks Seymour.
"Present company excluded I hope?" Ian asked him.
Seymour doesn't answer.
"What did you come here for, Seymour?"
"I came to check on this one's condition, and to inform you I've sent some of the men to collect more samples of Clear Moss, for further research."
"Thank you, Seymour. Please make sure your guys take the necessary precautions when storing it. We can't risk affecting anyone else. I cannot guarantee I can create enough of the antidote for everyone given our current situation."
"Of course."
As I'm sitting there silently sipping my medicine, watching Seymour and Dr. Pervert discuss proper handling of Clear Moss, something unexpected happens.
"𝑆𝑒𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝑒."
"𝑊ℎ𝑜'𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒?" I jump up, spilling my drink, my eyes dart around the room.
"You okay?" Asked Ian, a puzzled look on his face.
"Tell me doc, is hearing voices in one's head a side effect of Clear Moss?"
I can tell Dr. Pervert really wants to make a smart ass remark, but lucky for him he refrained.
"You mean like an auditory illusion. Not that I'm aware of. Why?"
"The voice I just heard said, 'Set them free.' Any thoughts?"
"Could be referring to the fact we're trapped in this labyrinth. Let me know if 'it' tells you anything else."
"Will do."
𝐼𝑡'𝑠 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝐼 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑡𝑒𝑙𝑙 ℎ𝑖𝑚 𝐼 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑠𝑎𝑚𝑒 𝑣𝑜𝑖𝑐𝑒 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑒 r𝑎𝑐𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝐴𝑏𝑏𝑦'𝑠 𝑏𝑟𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟, 𝑇𝑒𝑟𝑢, 𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑖𝑡'𝑠 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑔𝑢𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑑 𝑚𝑒 ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒. 𝑇𝑜𝑜 𝑏𝑎𝑑 𝐼 𝑑𝑜𝑛'𝑡 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤 ℎ𝑜𝑤 𝑡𝑜 𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑣𝑒.
****
"Oh good you're awake."
"Who are you? And where am I" I asked, sitting up.
"I am Prince Teru. Abby's brother, you are in the infirmary of the Netherlands Royal Family Palace, and I have a very serious question for you."
"I'm listening."
"Will you race me?"
A big smile appears on my face. "Hell yeah! Let's go."
"You're not going anywhere young lady unless I say so."
"And who are you?"
"I am Belphegor. A healer, and a member of The Seven. Prince Teru, please wait until I've ex…wait, what are you doing?"
I had slipped out of bed, put on Shoes of Hermes and was tapping the toe of my right foot on the floor. "Thanks Belphegor for taking care of me. Bye." I'm gone before she can even respond.
"If anything happens to her I'm holding you responsible, Teru."
"No honorifics, you are pissed."
Belphegor lets out a sigh. "Just go after her, please."
"Of course Auntie Belphegor."
𝑊𝑜𝑤, 𝐾𝑖𝑦𝑜 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑟𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡, 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑠𝑒 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑒𝑠 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑂𝑃 𝑎𝑠 ℎ𝑒𝑙𝑙. 𝐼 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑎 𝑏𝑖𝑡 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑟𝑛𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑢𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚, 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑖𝑡 𝑠𝑒𝑒𝑚𝑠 𝑚𝑢𝑠𝑐𝑙𝑒 𝑚𝑒𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑦 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑡 ℎ𝑒𝑙𝑝 𝑚𝑒 𝑎𝑣𝑜𝑖𝑑 𝑐𝑟𝑎𝑠ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑜 𝑎𝑛𝑦𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔.
I'm standing outside the palace's gates, stretching when Abby's brother comes trotting up.
"You okay?"
"Yup. Just give me a bit, Teru, and we can race."
"You're being awfully over-familiar with a member of royalty."
"Sorry, bad habit from being around Abby. I think."
"Very well then. Might I ask you a question?"
"Shoot." I said, while doing a hamstring stretch standing.
"Shoot? Shoot what?"
"Sorry it's an idiom. What's your question?"
"Well now I have two questions," Said Teru.
"Start with the original question." I'm now doing a butterfly stretch. "I'll explain what an idiom is another time."
"Are you aware that my siblings and I have seals placed on us?"
"I am." I respond, jumping in place, getting my blood pumping.
"I was going to race you as I am. However, after briefly seeing your ability, I feel that would be an insult to you."
"Then release your seal and let's do this."
"Thank you. It's been far too long since I've been able to run all out. Please take a step back." Teru removes his doublet.
I do as instructed.
"Release seal."
A surge of massive power erupts from Teru. Instead of a bright light, like with Abby. Teru's body is engulfed in black flames.
Strangely there was no extreme heat like you would expect to feel. Once most of the flames are gone, Teru's appearance has changed.
His hair, mane, tail, and fetlocks, are now actual fire, blue-black in color, hooves and eyes are black as coal with blue-black flames as irises, his once tanned torso is now a dark blackish gray.
"You're not a typical centaur, are you?"
"I'm a variant, known as a Ephialticentaur."
"Cool."
"How do you want to start this?" Teru asked me.
I picked up a stone up from the ground. "When this hits the ground we go."
"Sounds good. How far do you want to go?"
I'm all smiles when I throw the stone up. "Does it matter?"
"Not at all."
𝑇ℎ𝑢𝑛𝑐𝑘! We both take off. I'm matching Teru's pace. Everything zips by in a blur. Not even ten seconds into the race I hear a voice in my head.
"𝑅𝑢𝑛 𝑡𝑜𝑤𝑎𝑟𝑑𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑒𝑎." Came a voice.
"𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑒𝑎? 𝑊ℎ𝑖𝑐ℎ 𝑤𝑎𝑦?" I asked.
"𝐾𝑒𝑒𝑝 𝑔𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡."
"𝑆𝑢𝑟𝑒, 𝑤ℎ𝑦 𝑛𝑜𝑡."
"Hey Teru, if you're warmed up enough? Let's kick it up a gear."
"Yes, let's."
We race on. Eventually I hit the sea and keep going, literally running on water, like certain superheroes do.
Teru doesn't follow. I assume he's standing on the sands, munching on the appa I gave him.
The voice guides me until I'm suddenly in a cave. No idea how it happened. Surprisingly I can see just fine. I wandered around until I felt tired, and woke up aboard the ship.
****
"𝑆𝑜𝑟𝑟𝑦, 𝑑𝑖𝑑𝑛'𝑡 𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛 𝑡𝑜 𝑠𝑐𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢."
"𝑌𝑜𝑢 𝑚𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑏𝑒 𝑃𝑟𝑜𝑡𝑒𝑢𝑠."
"𝐼𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑒𝑑, 𝐼 𝑎𝑚 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑔𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑡 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑝𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑓𝑢𝑙…"
"𝑌𝑜𝑢 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑂𝑧, 𝑠𝑜… 𝑤𝑎𝑖𝑡, ℎ𝑜𝑤 𝑑𝑜 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑒?"
"𝐼 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑐ℎ 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑚𝑒𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑠 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑎 𝑚𝑜𝑣𝑖𝑒. 𝐸𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑦𝑜𝑢'𝑣𝑒 𝑑𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑙𝑖𝑓𝑒 𝐼 𝑎𝑚 𝑝𝑟𝑖𝑣𝑦 𝑡𝑜."
"𝐶𝑎𝑢𝑠𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡𝑠 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑐𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑝𝑦 𝑎𝑡 𝑎𝑙𝑙." I said.
"𝑌𝑜𝑢 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑣𝑖𝑒𝑤 𝑚𝑦 𝑚𝑒𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑠 𝑎𝑠 𝑤𝑒𝑙𝑙."
"𝑀𝑎𝑦𝑏𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒. 𝑆𝑜 𝑤ℎ𝑦 𝑑𝑖𝑑 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑠𝑒𝑛𝑑 𝑚𝑒 ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒?"
"𝐴 𝑟𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝐴𝑟𝑡𝑒𝑚𝑖𝑠, 𝐺𝑜𝑑𝑑𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐻𝑢𝑛𝑡. 𝑆ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑠 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑡𝑜 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚."
"𝑊ℎ𝑜'𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚?"
"𝐷𝑜𝑛'𝑡 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤." Replies Proteus.
"𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑖𝑡'𝑠 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑔𝑜 𝑒𝑥𝑝𝑙𝑜𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔."
I slip out of the sickbay and began exploring the ship.
"This looks like the ship's hold. Let's see: barrels of rum, swords, spears, shields, books, clothes. Crates of spices such as: black pepper, cloves, cinnamon, rock salt, others have cured meat, wool, cotton, animal hides. Oh-ho what do we have here?"
Behind the crates Kino finds two cages, each one housing a beast. A placard affixed to each cage identifying what they are.
(Character Bio)
Name: ?, Species: Snow Kitten, Gender: Female.
Appearance: Pure white fur, green eyes.
Name: ?, Species: Fenrir Pup, Gender: Male.
Appearance: Black fur, blue eyes.
"Kitten? You look like an adult cat to me. Makes me wonder how big you'll get when you've grown?"
"𝑊ℎ𝑜 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢?" Asked the Snow Kitten, sitting there majestically.
"𝐻𝑒𝑦, 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑙𝑒𝑡'𝑠 𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑦, 𝑙𝑒𝑡'𝑠 𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑦, 𝑙𝑒𝑡'𝑠 𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑦, 𝑙𝑒𝑡'𝑠 𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑦, 𝑙𝑒𝑡'𝑠 𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑦!" Demanded the hyperactive Fenrir Pup, bouncing around in its cage.
"𝐿𝑒𝑡'𝑠 𝑔𝑒𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑚𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑒𝑠 𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑦 𝑠ℎ𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑤𝑒. 𝑀𝑦 𝑛𝑎𝑚𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝐾𝑖𝑛𝑜. 𝐴𝑛𝑑 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑛𝑎𝑚𝑒𝑠?"
"𝐼 𝑑𝑜 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑠𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑎 𝑛𝑎𝑚𝑒. 𝐹𝑒𝑒𝑙 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑔𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑚𝑒 𝑜𝑛𝑒." Replied the Snow Kitten.
"𝑁𝑎𝑚𝑒, 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡'𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡? 𝐼 𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑜𝑛𝑒! 𝐺𝑖𝑚𝑚𝑒 𝑎 𝑜𝑛𝑒, 𝑔𝑖𝑚𝑚𝑒 𝑎 𝑜𝑛𝑒, 𝑔𝑖𝑚𝑚𝑒 𝑎 𝑜𝑛𝑒, 𝑔𝑖𝑚𝑚𝑒 𝑎 𝑜𝑛𝑒!"
"𝐴𝑙𝑟𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝐼'𝑙𝑙 𝑔𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑜𝑛𝑒, 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑚 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 ℎ𝑦𝑝𝑒𝑟 𝑎𝑠𝑠 𝑑𝑜𝑤𝑛. 𝑁𝑜𝑤 𝑙𝑒𝑡'𝑠 𝑠𝑒𝑒…𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑘𝑖𝑡𝑡𝑦 𝑐𝑎𝑡, 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑛𝑜𝑤 𝑌𝑢𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑜. 𝐴𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 ℎ𝑦𝑝𝑒𝑟 𝑝𝑢𝑝𝑝𝑦 𝑖𝑠 𝑛𝑜𝑤 𝐷𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑒."
"𝐶𝑎𝑛 𝐼 𝑎𝑠𝑘 ℎ𝑜𝑤 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑐ℎ𝑜𝑠𝑒 𝑚𝑦 𝑛𝑎𝑚𝑒?" Yukino asked.
"𝑌𝑢𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑜 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑚𝑦 𝑚𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑛𝑎𝑚𝑒, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐷𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑚𝑦 𝑓𝑎𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟."
"𝐼 𝑠𝑒𝑒. 𝑊𝑒𝑙𝑙 𝐼 𝑠𝑢𝑝𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑒 𝐼 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑎𝑐𝑐𝑒𝑝𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑛𝑎𝑚𝑒, 𝑖𝑓 𝑖𝑡'𝑙𝑙 𝑚𝑎𝑘𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢 ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑦."
"𝐼𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑠𝑜. 𝑌𝑜𝑢 𝑚𝑎𝑦 𝑠𝑎𝑦 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑖𝑡, 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑡𝑎𝑖𝑙 𝑠𝑤𝑖𝑠ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑏𝑎𝑐𝑘 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑡ℎ 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑐𝑟𝑎𝑧𝑦 𝑠𝑎𝑦𝑠 𝑦𝑜𝑢'𝑟𝑒 𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑢𝑙𝑙𝑦 ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑦 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑛𝑎𝑚𝑒"
"𝐼–𝐼 𝑑𝑜𝑛'𝑡 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛" Yukino averts her eyes, blushing as she does.
"𝐻𝑢ℎ, 𝑎 𝑡𝑠𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑘𝑖𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑛. 𝐼 𝑤𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟 𝑖𝑓 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑘𝑖𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑠 𝑜𝑟 𝑐𝑎𝑡𝑠 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠?"
"𝐷𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑒, 𝑚𝑦 𝑛𝑎𝑚𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝐷𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑒. 𝐻𝑖 𝐼'𝑚 𝐷𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑒." The pup runs around in circles, barking with glee.
"How'd you get in here?" Demanded a portly guard.
"This area is off limits by order of our vice-captain!" Said the portly guard's somewhat thinner partner.
"To answer your question, I walked through the door." I replied facing the guards.
"There's no way, I locked the door myself." Said the thinner guard.
"And it was still locked when we got here."
Before I can reply Dante starts growling and Yukino begins hissing at the two guards, causing them to go pale.
"Miss, please move away from them. They're very dangerous creatures." Said the portly guard.
"I'm good. In fact I think they want to play." I say spinning a set of keys on my index finger, the cage doors fall open. Dante is suddenly in front of the portly guard.
"Die!" He shouts, pulling his sword and swinging it down, cutting through Dante, and embedding it in the floor. "Huh?"
"An after image. Very nice." I say watching with amusement as the guard repeatedly attacks and fails to land a decisive blow. Falling for the after image every time.
Fifteen seconds have passed, and the portly guard is sweating profusely, his breathing ragged, and he's red in the face.
"Just die!" With one last mighty swing the guard swings his sword down, snapping it, sending the broken piece flying towards himself, impaling his fat jowly neck.
His partner tries rushing to aid him only to find his feet frozen to the floor.
"So you can use ice magic." I look down at my feet.
Yukino just sits beside me, grooming herself without a care in the world. While the ice crawls up the man, turning him into an ice sculpture.
"Time to go." I tell my new companions. We make it off the ship and run into more trouble. A woman and six strong looking men dressed in typical pirate garb stand before me.
"You must be Kino, the missing girl Dr. Kaine asked me to find."
"Welp you found me. Now you guys go hide while I close my eyes and count to one hundred."
"I am Vice Captain June West, not some child playing games. Now return our cargo by your feet at once."
"Hey Yukino, Dante, do you guys want to go with her or stay with me."
"Grrrrrr!!"
"Hissss!!"
"There you have it. They're staying with me."
"Then I challenge you to a duel." June removes a glove and throws it at me. It lands at my feet.
"Wow, an old school challenge, but it's pointless if I don't pick it up."
"Then once we get out of this labyrinth, I'll spread the word far and wide that Kino pussied out of a challenge. And with these six watching, my word will be taken as fact."
"I guess I don't have a choice. Dante, Yukino, stay out of this." I pick up the glove, walk over to June, and slap her with it. "Challenge accepted."
"You bitch!" Roars June. She attempts to hit me with a wild punch, but I speed away from her using my Shoe's of Hermes.
"Using enchanted gear to run from a fight. Why don't you face me head-on you fucking coward."
"Inventory." A black hole looking thing appears beside me. I remove my Shoe's of Hermes, put them in and take out a normal pair of boots I had remembered buying at Yui's shop over in Snapdragon Village.
"You think changing your shoes is gonna make a difference?"
"I guess we'll see, won't we."
"Draw your weapon." Said June, drawing her cutlass.
"How about fisticuffs?"
"Very well. Fisticuffs it is."