Carduus had watched Kairi and after breaking free of her bonds she snuck down where the girl had been and saw the chest. Even in her drunken delerium she knew that this chest was her ships and she knew that important items were in there. Searching through the contents quickly she snatched out two items and hiding them on her person she snuck back on deck.

---

"Hah, don't worry. The sack should keep the scent out, and this should be all I need." Johnny replied, eyeing the sack.

---

((Shadeslayer, if you can, please finish whatever it was you had in mind with the flowers, though again note that they will lose their form, corrode, as they are seperated from the garden, the longer and farther equaling themselves to a faster dissolution of them.

Personally, I would like to conduct a timeskip to the next day soon, so that we can get back out onto the sea again and do the proper pirate-thing, of course only if no one has any objections.))

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(Yeah, we better just timeskip.)

---

((Very well then, I would have us timeskip to the next morning after which we will finally get out onto the open sea again to pillage any treasure we may seek, though, let us wait for another hour or two just to see if anyone still has something to do.))

Having deemed the newly-installed harpoons as adequate, and again seeing no one willing to fight to the death with him, Helbrecht made his way to the lower deck, willing to see if any of the remaining prisoners had changed their mind.

On the way there, he passed by the mermaid, Carduus, who, while still #####, appeared to be of a light mood.

Uncaring, Helbrecht set forth, but then his armored foot stepped onto something that was definitely not the wood of his ship.

Taking a step back, the massive knight scanned the ground, coming to a close on the parchment, a map, by the looks of it. (The one Kairi had discarded earlier)

An ordinary thing, by the looks of it, a standardized one showing the major settlements and seascapes of the world. But something about it yet managed to draw his gaze in...

Scrutinizing it, there was nothing strange about it. It was merely unremarkable.

Yet, he kept it, perhaps it might become useful one day, such would certainly not be the strangest of happenings they had on their journey till now, after all.

---

((I would guess that the crows would stay on the ship?))

---

((Except making bets about firing at them, the pirates can certainly not do much to keep the crows away, so yes.))

---

((Alright, this here is a sort of transition, it is becoming night, you can have your characters go to bed, steal from eachother, whatever you want. If no one else posts till tomorrow, I will skip to the next day, have the boat move out, getting back to piracy.

It is not needed that you read all of this, except for the first three paragraphs maybe. The rest is just character-development for my character.))

The day soon came to a close, the crew of the Devil's Secret returned bit by bit in various states of intoxication, though some were rather carried by their compatriots than actually ran.

Also, half a dozen diving suits, though none for the size of Helbrecht, were delivered, an insurance of the captain, of sorts, after all, with the newly reeinforced prow, they were now properly capable of ramming enemy ships, the resulting destruction of which would cause all the valuable cargo to be lost if no one was capable of gathering out of the sea.

Taking the newly-aquired map with him, Helbrecht only took the time to set up some guards for the night, before he too retreated behind the newly-repaired iron-doors of the captain's quarters.

After having set down the map on the sole table for later study, he erased the light of the single candle someone had apparently seen fit to ablaze in his absence for whatever reason.

Giving off the closest he had to a sigh, he set himself down on his bed, the wooden construct hard and unyielding as always, just as he preferred it, on his back, for no he would allow for no harm to be done to the gift, not even through his own weight, for it was precious beyond compare.

Tonight, he could not dare looking at it, the weakness was too great, the shame too apparent. But he held it, this he had to, this he would do, holding it fast, this medallion of his.

Oh, he remembered, remembrance was half his life now.

He remembered the screams, the blood, the pain, the hate...

He remembered the eyes... those little, beautiful eyes that would never see the light of day...

So many days...

The cries...

The cries...

That was her, screaming, crying, suffering, whenever she was cut open and whatever tried to resist merely ripped out and replaced with that which was useful.
A mage, an artificial mage, that was what she should be, this child of barely twelve. It was an unnatural process, one that might have been done by decades and centuries of careful work...

This was done to her in mere hours.

Then, after every procedure, after every brain-throttling torturous process, she would be thrown into a room filled with walking corpses, screaming beasts, or insane aberrations, all intent and capable of easily ripping her apart.

Only, that always he would always accompany her, both on the surgeon's table, as well as here.

He was bound to her, this giant plated in darkness, bound to the only thing that was still constant even in the unending pain; her will to survive, her desperate wish to live.

And thus, the giant would always rise, the chains that she had on him, gained through the continuous surgery, forcing his body to move without his will.

He hated her, he hated this child that controlled his very being, the only thing he ever thought possible of being only and entirely his, just as he hated her for forcing him to be her shield, as the chains she held threw him against every monstrosity that threatened her, no matter how wounded, how tired, how sick of it all he was...

Oh, he hated her so very, very much.

Likewise, the child hated this giant, this inhuman beast of rage and hate. After all, even for her desperate plea to live, it were still the weak tendons of a twelve-year-old that forced the giant to move.

Thus, every single one of his movements tore her flesh, ripped her skin, destroyed her being, bit by miserable bit, forcing her through pain even the surgeon's table, which now only merely replaced the broken parts after every fight, could not bring.

And thus, the bond between the child and the giant was one of blood, hate and unimaginable pain...

Or at least so they thought it would be...
 

---

Kairi had never gotten old of the compass she still held, smiling at it. She held in in her palms, turning it so the arrow would turn aswell. Then, she would spin around, and the arrow would move again. It was so amazing!

Kairi smiled as she did that for a few more minutes, but then snapped out of it after she heard yet another gunshot. Marching onto the deck, she looked around annoyed at the stupid pirates who thought they could shoot the crows. "Leave them be.." She mumbled, glancing away to look for a place to rest. She was tired, after all, she barely gets any sleep.. Most of the time it's filled with nightmares...

Gritting her teeth, she walked back to below deck, and found the barrel she had slept in before. She put it on it's side, and crawled in. The fit was easy, considering how she was so unhealthily small and skinny. She didn't eat much.

Kairi pulled a piece of half eaten bread out of her shorts pocket. She found this in town quite a while ago. Nibbling on it, she then remembered the chest. There was something else in there. Scurrying to get up, she crawled out of the barrel, and saw the chest. Of course, she had left it open and unattended..

Slapping her forehead, she noted that her parents would be watching her from heaven, and regret their daughter even more..

She sighed, finished her bread and peered into the chest. Nothing.

"What..." The human mumbled, taking a closer look. There was absolutely nothing in the box. She turned to take a glance at where she had thrown the map- Gone. "No wonder my parents hated me!" She scowled at the ground, kicking the empty chest. She was useless.

Sighing angrily, Kairi went back inside the barrel, hugged her knees to her chest and stared at the wood, it would take a few hours to sleep. Taking out her compass, she looked at it.

---

Maia fell tired with the sun. It sank in the horizon, leaving behind only a few rays of light and pink and orange clouds. She yawned, her hand on Detractorem. She left the deck and headed inside.

She went to her quarters and lay n her bunk, slowly, she fell asleep, Detractorem half unsheathed, her hand tightly clasped on the blade. 

Midnight. Maia opened her eyes and waited. 

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