"WHAT??!! NO!!" Kakeha's voice echoed through the air from inside the quarters of the ship. As they were eating… Alloy and company got alarmed as they rushed in to see what was going on. Their eyes widened as they saw Yukio place cuffs on Tella after she was freshened up by the same person.
"Tella-san??" Tasue began.
"What are you doing?!?! Let her go, Yukio!!" Alloy demanded, her teeth and hands clenched as her temper rose.
"Alloy-san…" Tella began. The room silent to hear her plea when in fact… "It's okay, I'll go to prison." Were the next words to echo the four walls. Shocked, Alloy blurted out the first words that came to mind.
"Why do you need to go to prison?!?! You helped her escape the ship wi…"
"I'M THE ONE WHO PUT HER IN THE SHIP IN THE FIRST PLACE!!" She retorted, her voice choked with regret, her face down, her short purple hair gleaning in the light from the windows, the opposite of what she felt. Alloy, still shocked, relaxed her jaw as well as her hands, so did Damion and Tasue. They all wanted to understand.
"Tella… please have a seat." Yukio offered as he finished placing the iron cuffs on her.
"Why is he being so kind to her??" Alloy, Damion and Tasue simultaneously spoke.Tella took a seat beside the desk at the center of the room, Alloy saw Kakeha's fear and powerlessness for the second time that day, she walked to where she was next to the bed and sat with her. "Let's listen to what she has to say." She sighed, calming her down. Tella raised her head to face Alloy as she began.
"Merely two weeks ago, we raided a town in search of supplies, treasure, things we could sell, but the island we docked on was poor as well. I walked into a market, meeting Kakeha for the first time, her eyes, I froze when I saw the silver that reflected so beautifully against them. I was in awe. But Ironjaw had followed behind me, I knew immediately he'd lay his eyes on her, she would've been roughed up, so I caught her, given her surprise, I told her I wouldn't let anything happen to her. I asked her to trust me. After the raid, I had placed cuffs on her and showed the captain. He was excited, he told me to keep an eye on her due to the poor conditions of our ship, and I did." She then glanced at Kakeha and sighed.
"I felt sorry for her, 'what if she had a family??' 'a lover who is worried sick about her??' 'maybe a child??' I thought. When I decided to talk to her, I… I…" Her voice choked up. "I wish I hadn't met her… I'm sorry Kakeha… the pain you hold within you is too much." She looked up at Alloy in tears. Her head then went down once more, her tears dripping on her lap. "Alloy-san, everyone… I would like to tell you Kakeha's story."
Kakeha herself had her eyes wide open in surprise. Upon noticing this expected reaction… Tella spoke, "Kakeha… these people saved us, and after hearing Alloy-san's words to Ironjaw, I don't believe they are bad people. Please, allow me to share your story with them."Kakeha glanced at Damion and Tasue, two people who were curious to know more, then she gazed slightly at Alloy, the girl next to her who smiled, she didn't know when she began smiling, but she felt she could trust her, so she nodded, allowing Tella to share a tale that would shed light on who Kakeha was.
"Before I begin, I need to talk about the navigation in the world. Due to great divine and chaotic powers long ago, the world was split into four great seas;
The Calm Gale, this Southern sea,
The Northern Drift, to the North,
The Setting Tide to the West,
and the Fractured East.
Because of the same powers, powerful dormant energy stayed on the world's surface, changing the whole world's structure, climate changes on islands were placed on hold, others fast-forwarding, magnetic interference that affected everything. The world knows this dormant energy as
紫雲 (Shiun) – The Resonant Veil of the World.
This Shiun, in turn, ended up disrupting the world's usual navigation systems, hence forcing us to create new ones from the new resources left behind, people created rune compasses. A compass that harnessed the power of runes to detect active shiun signals resonating from nearby islands or one of the continents that split the earth into four. One of these Syndicate guys should have one on them."
"That's true. Here is mine." Yukio said, pulling out what seemed like a pocket watch from his coat and it pushed down its silver lid open to see the design of it. It was circular and compact looking, made of wood that had basic rune patterns carved on its surface. At the center, a single needle pointer that glowed faintly was pointing at Tasue. Right below the needle lay the face of the compass, marked with simple North, South, East and West directions with a circle around the edges.
"Yes, this is the basic version, normally they'd come with a wristband but they can also be customized. Right below the entire device, there's a tiny shard of reactive crystal that powers the needle's glow and it's ability to detect Shiun resonance. By tapping the rune on its side, the needle activates." Tella added.
"I've seen it before," Damion said. "Back at Otto's ship… one of his men had one when we were going to Tavira."
"Many people hold them, it's not uncommon." Tella mentioned.
"What about places that people want to go back to?? Like Syndicates going back to their ports. Would they need to retrace their steps on the sea??" He asked.
"Not really, we have a special one for that," Yukio said. "It's called a PTH compass."
"PTH?? What does that mean??" Alloy asked.
"It stands for Path To Home." He said, removing another compass from his left pocket. It looked similar to the other one they just saw, however, it had noticeable differences. "The material for this compass is bronze, with runes encircling it that prevent interference from other magnetic signals. On the top here, you can see the face here written 'To Home' and the more permanent engraving on the bronze below the southern marking, 'Tavira. S. Port' to mean the Vira Syndicate Port at Tavira Island. All PTH compasses belonging to the Syndicate have the 'S' embedded on them to stand for the same. It's how we'll head back after we drop you guys off."
"Cool." Alloy said.
"Interesting. You said this is the basic version. What other versions are there??" Damion asked.
"The advanced version is the only other version I've heard of. They are used to sail the Fractured East and the Setting Tide seas. The concentration of Shiun there is extreme and overwhelming, it needs an advanced compass to go through its rough and unpredictable waters, but I don't think that concerns you now." Tella continued.
"That sounds complicated, I hope the navigator we get knows as much as you do." Alloy stated.
"There are other people who never needed the use of these compasses. They were born with divine abilities that allowed them to sail the sea with minimal struggle." Tella said, ignoring Alloy's remark.
"Now that we're done with that… This is where Kakeha's story begins."