"Goodbye, Class!"

"Goodbye, Ms. Hawthorne!"

The children walked out of the class once the bell rang. Violet stood up too and headed towards the exit. On the way through corridors, she could hear the children chat amongst each other:

"So, where are you going to continue your studies?"

"In Pirate Academy, I guess. My elder brother has already graduated and entered the fleet, so our family pays only ten percent of the income instead of twenty, as a tribute. If both of us get to become pirates, the taxes will be completely lifted".

"Yeah, I love that law – if all youths in the family work as pirates we don't get to pay a dime".

"I know, right! And as pirates, we get to party all day long across the galaxies!"

"I even hear some lucky ones get enrolled directly in Lord Captain's crew".

"I hope my brother and I get that chance too!"

Violet's ears now paid heed to another swarm of conversations, from the other side of the corridor:

"Have you heard? That rebel from Yoonun City was executed yesterday..."

"Hmph, serves her right, to raise a whole mutiny against the pirates! Who did she think she was fighting?"

"Even if I were in the right I'd never dare raise my voice against Lord Captain or any of his people. Imagine, getting crystallized in an instant? No, thank you!"

"Agnes, what the hell are you talking about? If you were in the right, you'd never be punished in the first place".

"Crystallized? That's yet the mildest punishment you can receive. Lord Captain's imagination runs wilder than that, in terms of punishments".

"I hear he rarely even issues the sentence himself. It is his multiple underlings who do the job".

"Don't ever believe that nonsense, Jerry. Lord Captain is omnipotent. Even now as we speak, he's watching".

"You have to be kidding! That can't be true... Don't scare me like that!"

"Oh, but it's true – he can hear all you're saying even now, and knows your every move".

The youths began teasing their friend Jerry who happened to be quite a 'scaredy-cat', or so they would call him. A bitter smile ran through Violet's lips as she heard this term. It reminded her of those days ten years ago, when she used to serve on the Shark Tooth ship of late Captain Sinbad, and her cousin Baxus would tease her all the time, calling her a 'scaredy-cat'. Those days were long gone, she was now back on Earth, and yet, here the children were, talking about pirates, tributes, scaredy-cats, rebellions suppressed in blood, crystallized prisoners, benevolent pardons if one were to obey all the pirate laws... One thing all of these conversations had in common – the benevolent Lord Captain, the omnipotent Young Captain, the omniscient Captain Emperor, the gracious emperor Blood Diamond, and "fools be those who dared oppose him".

What was different from the horror of the Reptiloids she could remember from her distant childhood? – Only the fact that most humans actually felt quite good under the 'guardianship' of the Shark Tooth Pirates and their 'divine' Galaxy Pirate Emperor. Save for some 'fools', no one wished to rebel against or oppose the leaders, and they all heartily obeyed the commands. The 'special' ones would get rewarded, too. Furthermore, there were a lot of offices where one could write a complaint and it would directly reach the Galaxy Pirate Emperor. If one were having problems with paying the tribute, they could simply apply to those very offices, to receive a 'pardon'. No problem there, it was immediately issued if the reason was deemed appropriate. The Emperor was a godly being and could easily determine who spoke the truth and who dared lie. Liars would be severely punished since it was a crime against the empire. At one glance, everything should be fine, placid, peaceful... Indeed, it was peaceful, but on the outside. Inside everyone's heart, Violet could well know, dwelt fear – the fear of a mighty god, who, just like those young children had stated, watched them all the time, knew everything, saw through every step of theirs, and had it all calculated long beforehand. Violet was also well aware, that where dwelt fear, there could be no shred of freedom.

When she returned home on a planebus – a flying bus that followed special aerial routes – she discovered the Crimson Diamond Shark Tooth anchored at her house. Ellie and the others had come for a visit, apparently. Ellie Hawthorne had been serving in Lord Captain's crew for years now and enjoyed her life quite a lot. However, she was always eager to pay visits to her beloved family – her elder sister Violet, and her parents Marie and Gunther. Generally, the Hawthorne family wasn't to pay the tribute, but Violet, disregarding this 'grace', paid her own part each Earthly month.

Ellie couldn't understand her sister's such silent protests and distaste. This time too, Violet heartily hugged all of them – her, Baxus, Dohta, Zehu, Zona – and then rushed upstairs to lock herself in her room.

"Violet, don't you want to wait and see your husband?"

At such a half-joke of Ellie, her elder sister only slammed the door behind. When Ellie inquired her parents Marie and Gunther about it, she received only faint shrugs – the parents had long decided to not meddle in their adult daughters' affairs. Ellie exchanged troubled glances with Dohta and Baxus and headed upstairs to her sister's chamber.

"Violet?"

When her knock wasn't answered to, she pushed the door open and peeped in. Her sister was lying on her sumptuous bed of satin blankets, all gloomy and disheartened, gazing out of a bright window and watching birds chirp outside, while within her own heart there was clearly some heavy turmoil.

"Violet, what's wrong with you?"

"Leave me".

"You know Lord Captain will_"

"Leave me!" Violet angrily sprang upon her bed, "I don't care what your Lord Captain might want or not. I'm not in the mood and will never be, understood?"

"My Lord Captain?"

"Well, he's not a 'Lord Captain' for me, that's for sure!"

Ellie watched her sister glare at her like a wrathful tigress in a small cage. She heaved a sigh:

"Alright, Violet, be it your way... But, I still want to tell you one thing, when I see you in such a state, brooding over what is right and what is wrong. You know, what I've learned from these long voyages of ours is that, in the end, we all strive for our own good. It does not matter what race we are, who we are... We have that one thing in common – the wish to live this life the best way possible. Hence, our definitions of 'good' and 'bad' always remain subjective – no matter how many perspectives we consider, no matter how objective we try to be, we still judge according to our own beliefs, principles, and opinions – things that we develop throughout our entire life. In truth, nothing is either 'good' or 'bad' but is both good and bad, all at the same time, depending on the perspective and the relation with other matters. This world is much more versatile than we thought it was. The only universal truth is the energy of life and love – the unending circle, and the undying emotion – interconnected for eternity. Life bears love, and love bears life. Hence, I believe that whatever era may come, major concepts shall never change. We should pave our way and live to our content, staying harmonious with ourselves, because in the end, we shall never know what is right and what is wrong. We interrelate just like the tiniest substances – molecules, atoms, etc. – and the biggest substances – planets, galaxies, universes... During these interrelations, there shall be unions as well as collisions, destructions as well as creations... As long as we live, there shall be both oppositions and friendships. There shall be peace, there shall be war, and then peace again. This shall not change. Hope will motivate us, mind shall guide us, love shall rejoice us, death shall sadden us, but life will go on. Life is always moving and ardent, never to stop or pause. This is the only universal truth that exists in this world – the energy of ardour and life".

Seeing her sister lie down on the bed without uttering a single word, Ellie let out another heavy sigh and quietly left the chamber. Violet remained alone again, tears slowly forming in her eyes – bitter tears of disappointment and hopes shattered.

I know all that is true, but I am a human, hence a free spirit! I cannot be enslaved by all the powerful creatures who count it possible. All I desired was freedom and peace for my people! Just like back then, when we believed we were alone in this world, governing over all the other species, only with ourselves as enemies, and no other forces to squash us beneath their boots. We believed in a magnanimous God who was to be an abstract entity and not some pirate emperor ruling us as per his whims! I'd give anything to return that era_

"Stubborn as ever, eh, gemstone?"

Arubah Arruroe, the Galaxy Pirate Emperor and her very husband, had entered the room. He had left the coat and the hat back on the first floor and appeared before her as a simple man, apparently expressing his equality to her in such a manner. Instantly as he walked in and spread his divine crimson aura around, Violet, who had been feeling distaste towards his codes of conduct just a minute ago, brightened in a broad grin:

"Sneaky bean!"

"Schooled by my wife," Arubah teased back. He closed the door behind and approached her side. "Ellie told me you were in a bad mood. I came to grant you my visit since you've decided to punish me with your absence".

"You deserve that punishment," Violet now regained her previous attitude, "You promised me to free humans, but what you've granted is not freedom, just placidity and peace under the Shark Tooth Pirates' tyrannical rule!"

"Tyrannical?"

"Exactly! You're a villain. Everybody knows you're a villain, but they're too scared to admit it. Even children – the next generation and our future – are terrorized of you, but they do know you're a villain!"

Arubah studied the flickering eyes of his wife for a while. Then he took a seat in an armchair before her, made a golden pipe appear out of nowhere, and calmly drew on it.

"One should be labelled as a villain in society's eyes in order to commit kind deeds untrammelled. The society never associates freedom with kindness, for sometimes the free spirits allow themselves to defy common rules, and the society deems it as villainy. If I am called a villain for the said reason, I shall bear that label with pride, for it proves I am a free man".

"I couldn't care less about your freedom, Arubah! You've promised me you'd return my people's freedom, and you ought to do it".

"Freedom? Nay, I promised you I'd give you the best for your people, dearest. I promised you I'd free the Earth from the evil conquerors' clutches, who were the Reptiloids and the Radenoids. I promised you peace would fall on Earth again. Peace indeed dwells here. You demand me freedom now? My gemstone, nobody can return to you something that was never yours, to begin with. Let's trace back to the history of your race: humans were made for slavery and were found faulty for that purpose. They showed immense energy and willpower only when confronted against tremendous obstacles with no weapons in their hands. With those bare hands, and the wits that exceeded even those of their creators and equalled the ones of mighty gods, they could break mountains. Once humans earned at least a bit of benevolence from their creators, though, they'd immediately turn into lazy drunkards feasting upon the luxuries of life. They were quite haughty creatures, at that – one could never make them work without posing a certain purpose before their eyes. They should be given an aim they approved of, or else, they'd move no finger! Yet, if such necessities were met, they'd begin to loaf around. Forbidding them to taste those luxuries? Nay, they obeyed not! Hence, their creators cast them down on Earth – a planet inhabited by many other faulty experiments of different alien species, so that their lives would end. Yet even here, humans defied their creators – instead of dying out, they adapted to the environment they were cast in, due to their boundless wits and the unexplainable willpower that no other species could ever possess. They mated the local species whom they could more or less find a common language with, killed off the obstacles, and conquered the planet as their own. The conquering ambitions of their creators, the boundless wisdom of their gods, and the primal instincts of Earthly nature – all of it meddled in these extraordinary creatures. They were full of instability, unpredictability, wild dreams, and rotten primitivism. Which side they would develop, depended entirely upon their choice. Aye, they had proven faulty to their creators, yet had attained the perfect treasure they required – the freedom. Could they make use of it? – Nay, certainly not... at least not many of them. There are certain individuals among the human race, who are able to well balance their mixed-up nature and grow into worthy people that merit our godly benevolence. However, most of them are quite an interesting bunch whom an ambitious man like me can make good use of. I am half-human with godly and angelic descendance, so I guess, I am worthy to be their sole ruler, their only saviour, their treasured shepherd... The shepherds too make use of their sheep – they guide them, then to consume some of them for wool and meat. Shepherds do not help the sheep for granted – they use their potential to its fullest. I shall be the same kind of a god – I shall help these magnificent creatures to achieve the wildest of their dreams but will use their powers for my own benefit. These poor creatures cannot define their potential alone, they cannot decide what's the best and the fittest for them! I can achieve that. Free human souls? – Nay, they need no freedom. What they need, is to serve the rightful master, and that rightful master I shall be".

"You're not leaving them any choice! You truly are a tyrant!"

"Oh, my beloved... I remember even now, how in the first days of our encounter, you called me a god – the benevolent, kind deity, the true non-heathen god that helped humans achieve greatness. I pray to tell me now, dearest – the god who decides for himself whose life should end and whose life should begin, who decides on his own whether be born a woman or a man, who gives children to the families of the poor or the rich without ever asking the newborn's opinion, who twists the humans' minds and yet never desires to reveal the single truth only he knows, who caused humans five world wars and let aliens take over them, who allowed death and misfortune and only granted miracles to chosen few – this true non-heathen god whom you spoke of, be he not a bloody tyrant playing with your lives on his whims?"

"But you told me you'd never be that kind of a god!"

"Nay, I told you I wouldn't be the one to you and the likes of you, dearest. What do you call a god, to begin with? – A creature that is omnipotent, omniscient, and runs the world per his whims? Well then, am I not all of that? You told me you wanted to be frank with me, dearest. Goodie, I shall return the kindness – this time, I shall be completely sincere with you," his divine energy vanished back inside him, freeing Violet from the trance. Now, the masks of his versatile nature torn off, she could well behold his black eyes flicker with the reflection of his very soul – the soul red and ardent as life, but which, deep within, burned crimson as blood and infernal flames. "I govern upon the Crimson Ardour – the main energy of the Seven Universes. I bear all the rights and the power to be a god, hence the throne I shall take".

Beholding this frightening true face of the one she had given herself to, Violet couldn't help but fall to her knees and sob in agony, clutching her belly where she would soon bear his only child. Sinbad? – That man was truly an angel, while this... this was indeed a god, one to grovel before and pray he might look at them with benevolence! Certainly, if there were any beings that bore the most light within, it'd be angels, because no matter people's faults, they always strove to help them, while the god judged them according to their merits and even punished them if it was due. To her feeble human mind, once a single entity took the throne, they were nothing but a tyrant... Every god was a tyrant. Similarly, her husband too was indeed a tyrannical ruler that had not freed Earth from the aliens, but rather enslaved it in his own clutches! Just like he had enslaved her very heart...

"Aww, come here, my dearest treasure! Weep not, my love... Anything you desire, I shall grant".

The warm red energy was to embrace her again, and lull her doubts, uplift her with passionate caresses. It was no wonder the Crimson Ardour was the most powerful energy these universes could ever harbour – it was not only the force of imperial power, fire, blood, passion, or life... No, even the strongest of all the feelings – the love – was governed by this very energy. Arubah was the entity to master the Crimson Ardour, hence, he was also the entity to master the impulses of love – there could be no person to not love him whenever he so desired. She too loved him and could forgive him anything, could count anything natural, just to receive that ardent embrace of his. Indeed, he now gave her the scarlet energy of passionate love and care, benevolence, kindness, grace... In these loving cuddles, against that godly yet magnanimous gaze, she found herself powerless and her feeble heart and soul gave in – she sank her face unto his chest and wetted his scarlet shirt with tears. She was his treasure, the crimson diamond of his heart, and as the Galaxy Pirate Emperor, he'd never abandon his treasure... even if this latter one were to wish for it. 

***

In the afternoon, Violet joined the common party of her family and the pirates. Arubah watched her with a loving smile from aside. Then he walked off towards the high mountains, to have some alone time.

On the highest cliff of the Aidan Mountains, he stood, looking over the lakes engulfed in the green, the small city sparkling under the blue sky, and beyond the forests and beaches, the clear blue sea with its infinite horizons. Spaceships flew through the air as if tiny shooting stars far across the skies – the spaceships of the Shark Tooth Pirates, ensuring peace and order on Earth, protecting it from both the outer and the inner disturbances.

He contemplated his empire with the full realisation that the victory was his to celebrate, and the treasure was his, to guard for eternity. Now, encompassing both of his homelands – the Daluma Asteroid and the Planet Earth – within his pirate empire, along with all the homelands of all of his fleet members, his desires were finally fulfilled: he was the fully-fledged ruler of these galaxies.

With a satisfied grin brightening his face, he spread his hands on the cliff and took a deep breath of the fresh Earthly air, the warm rays of the sun shining upon him:

"From now on, this world is mine!"