"Are you certain about it?" Lyra asked as Percy slowly sailed over a rocky outcrop hiding the tunnel and a secret bay where Gariel's research facility and wharf were. It was still dark, with a barely visible pale golden line on the eastern horizon, heralding a breaking dawn. The building complex was still illuminated despite the late or rather early hour.

"We don't have a choice, Lyra," Celia replied, her voice hard as steel. "We can't leave all those ships behind us because they will chase us. I can bet Gabriel got them outfitted with even better tech than Percy. There's no way we can escape them all."

Lyra's face was pale on the slowly swaying light of the oil lamps, her mouth drawn into a thin line. "What if there are still people aboard those ships? We worked with them, you know."

Celia looked at her friend, making sure her mask of indifference was intact. "Then let's hope Lady Luck keeps them away tonight."

Lyra opened her mouth to protest but thought better of it and only shook her head. "I'll check if the bombs are ready."

Celia nodded, but Lyra already had her back to her, walking away. Celia adjusted her captain hat on her head and tightened her grip on the helm. It was not a decision she made lightly. Bombing a defenceless wharf was not something good guys did. In the epic tales, they were honourable to the fault and, somehow, always succeeded against all odds. Celia smiled bitterly. Yes, her young self loved all those stories about gentlemen adventurers and a world of wonders. But she was not a child anymore.

The world was not as the books painted it. It was a cruel place when only the strongest and smartest survived, trampling weaklings on their way to the top. She might have pretended to change her ways and work under the Confederation flag, but the truth was, she was wicked through and through. She didn't want to change the world for the better as Gabriel did. All she ever wanted was to be free and for the world to leave her alone. She sacrificed so many things to reach this point that she could not give up now.

After all, what difference did a few more innocent lives on her conscience make? It would be all worth it if only she could break free.

As they slowly approached the designated position over the moored ships, Celia watched her crew scramble on the deck, ensuring everything was ready for a quick drop-off and escape manoeuvre. Below them, there was no sign of alarm. And why would there be? After all, they were allies, everyone knew Percy already, and they were always welcomed here, so no one expected any aggression from their side.

Celia closed her eyes and gritted her teeth. It was the only way, and she knew it, even if the tiny innocent part of her was screeching inside to turn back and leave. There was another reason she was doing this. Celia knew that Gabriel would try to stop her as soon as he woke. He would use this silver tongue of his to convince her to stay. He would spread his net of beautiful promises and perfectly aimed arguments to cloud her judgement again. Even though she would never admit it out loud, Celia knew she often lost her reason with him. It was so easy being with him, basking in his golden glow and feeling safe in his warm embrace. But if she had let that happen, she would wake up one day in different sorts of chains, not the physical ones. This moment, right now, was her last chance to escape.

She had to do something drastic. Something so terrible that even Gabriel wouldn't find a way to wash it away and pretend it didn't happen.

She had to make him her enemy to escape his influence once and for all.

"The bombs are ready for drop off, Boss," came distorted Zed's voice from the pipe leading to the gun deck. "Waiting for your order."

Celia adjusted the ship's position, making sure they were directly over the harbour below. She looked at the horizon, where the golden line turned bloody red.

Very fitting.

"Drop off the bombs."

***

After leaving behind the blazing inferno of ruined ships, the crew kept solemnly silent. They all knew what they had done was a point of no return. They successfully burned all the bridges to the old world, crushing any possible chance of ever going back. The only way was forward, but there was no guarantee they would make it over the mountains. Stealing the prisoner was a gamble with a relatively small chance of paying off, but it was Celia's only trump card.

The first two days passed uneventfully. It seemed too perfect. They almost reached a Thundering Massive, the grey mountains looming on the horizon already, and no one was trying to stop them. But even so, everyone on the ship was tense and anxious. Something was coming, and they could all feel it in their bones.

When Lyra's sharp shout from the crow's nest pierced the heavy silence, Celia wasn't surprised.

"Three unidentified ships following us through the sky! They are coming fast!"

"Flying ships?" Abner called, already climbing up to the sails to take a good look. "I thought we got rid of all those!"

"Not all, apparently." Lyra adjusted her spying glass. "Wait! There's more! Another three... no five!"

"What the hell?" Celia locked the helm in place and ran to the stern, grabbing her spyglass. Lyra was right. Trailing behind them was a whole armada of flying ships. "Rust and starvation!" she cursed. The pursuers were coming fast, which was understandable since Percy was going at half the speed to save the coal since they had no significant reserves. Celia adjusted her visor to get a better look at the leading ship. It was all smooth lines and narrow hull, piercing through the air as if riding the winds.

"What are your orders, Boss?" asked Zed, who appeared at her side.

"Gabriel is already here," she said, folding her spyglass. "We can probably keep ahead of the main chasing force if we pick up the speed, but we won't be able to outrun Little Fish."

Zed cocked his head. "That ship you saw in the drydock when you visited Gabriel's facility? You said it was not armed properly. We can easily take them down if they catch up to us."

"Yes, I would think so too. And Gabriel should know that too, so why is he rushing so fast to face us?"

"Maybe he wants to talk?"

Celia looked at Zed's stoic face. As usual, there was no judgment there. He was plainly stating facts. "That's what I'm afraid of."

"Just say the word, and I'll take him down before he gets close."

Celia smiled sadly. "Thank you, Zed, but I don't think it will be necessary. For now, we'll pick up the pace to keep those bigger ships off our back, and if Little Fish keep pursuing us, we'll see what he wants. We can take them down anytime."

Zed nodded and trotted down the deck repeating her orders. Celia returned to the helm and asked Theo through the communication pipe to accelerate. She felt the wood under her feet tremble, and the engines hummed louder as Percy jumped forward.

As predicted, even though they kept ahead of the main body of the flotilla, the smaller vessel was gaining fast. Celia left the helm to Octavius, and, resting her hands on her revolvers' handles, she walked to starboard, where the slick ship was already fast approaching. It was smaller than Percy, so it didn't look threatening, but Celia knew it was not the guns she should be wary of.

As Little Fish drew closer, they could see a white flag flapping on the main mast and the crew working hard on the sails, catching the winds for an extra burst of speed. And as expected, on the bow stood Gabriel, his long green coat flapping around him and sunlight illuminating his golden hair.

"Say the word, Boss, and he's a dead man," Zed said, a rifle held firmly in his hands.

"Not yet, Zed. Let's hear what he has to say before we get rid of him and his ship."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Fine," Zed grumbled and lowered his rifle.

As the two ships levelled, Gabriel waved a white flag. "Permission to board the ship to parley!" he shouted over the wind and roar of engines.

Celia cocked her head. "Are you certain you'd like to board a pirate ship alone? I'm not letting anyone, but you set foot on Percy."

Gabriel did not falter or turn his gaze away from her. "I'd like to talk to my friend before we go any further."

Celia felt a painful tug in her heart, but she forced herself to keep an indifferent expression. She nodded, and Gabriels's crew threw the hooks securing two ships together. Once they moved together in tandem, a wide gangplank was put between them, and Gabriel crossed it without hesitation and with surprising grace.

Celia crossed her arms and glanced at her crew, who stood around her, their faces solemn and hands hovering over their weapons. But Gabriel only looked at her. He seemed tired, dark circles were showing under his eyes, and there was a wrinkle between his brows as if he wore this frown constantly. The mask of a perfect gentleman was gone.

"Why?" he asked.

She cocked her head. "Why what? You have to be more specific than that."

Gabriel spread his arms wide. "What are you doing, Celia? Everything was going perfectly. We were so close to making our dreams come true. Why would you waste all our hard work like that?"

"It was your dream, Gabriel, not mine."

"But I thought─"

"You thought wrong," Celia interrupted. "All I ever wanted was to get the hell out of this world. That's it. I never wanted to be involved in some power coups or open war with another nation!"

Gabriel raised his hands. "Alright, I admit I might not have been entirely honest with you..."

"You think?"

"...but it's not something you can casually discuss over the tea, is it? Everything I do is to create a better world for everyone. You can't change the world order just by wishing for it. I thought you, of all people, would understand that. After all, you inspired me to aim high."

"Stop it. Do not put your megalomaniac ambitions on me. Do I want to see a better world one day? Yes. Do I want to be the master of my own fate? You bet I do! But I'm certain waging a war against an unsuspecting neighbouring nation is the best way to go about it."

"Unsuspecting? Have you seen them? They killed our people, Celia. They use bloody dragons to keep us away from their borders. I wouldn't call them agitators of peace."

"But does it give you the right to invade and take their lands by force? They are defending their home. Can you blame them for that?"

"And since when do you care about those strangers' feelings? You had no problems taking the things you wanted from others in the past," Gabriel said with a dangerous glint in his blue eyes.

Celia raised her chin. "I never pretended to be anything more than I am. I'm a pirate, a thief and a murderer, and I own all my crimes. I might get my crew involved in my disputable business conduct, but I would never drag the whole nation to war and call it justice."

Gabriel took a step back as if she physically punched him. "Is that what you think I'm doing?"

"Do you deny it? You've manipulated everyone on that party to believe people over the mountain are some unspeakable monsters and used a prisoner as some bloody sacrifice. Did you think I would be fine with that?"

He shook his head. "I only did what was necessary for the survival of our people. What else can we do? There's nowhere to run now, only over those mountains. And they will not let us cross them peacefully. They made that clear from the first moment we encountered them. Would you rather have your people perish?"

"Maybe we deserved it."

"What?" Gabriel asked flabbergasted.

"Have you ever thought that maybe we deserve to perish? We destroyed our world." Celia shook her head. "With all technological marvels and brilliant inventions, all we managed to do is destroy our own home."

"So what would you do? Sit down and wait for the sea to consume us? I don't see you doing that, Celia."

"No. I'm fleeing because I'm a coward. That's the truth." She smiled sadly. "My hope was crossing the mountains and finding the world where people were wiser than us and did not poison the earth and waters that feed them and the air they need to breathe. You want to take all our wonderful inventions that polluted our world and move them over the mountains to poison them too. How long will it last, do you think? How long until we reach the same point we are here now?"

"Technology is not to blame for what happened to our world," Gabriel protested. "It's the way people abuse it. It's because those guided by greed and selfishness are ruling us. And that's what I'm trying to change, don't you see?"

"Your dream might be valiant, but the way to achieve it is paved with the lives of innocents. People over the mountains will not accept you as their ruler. They will keep opposing you, so you'll keep showing them your strength. Do you think cutting off their wings will suffice? What will come next? Putting them all in shackles? Making them slaves of a reach people from the old world? Threaten to kill their families if they oppose you? Where will it end, Gabriel?"

Gabriel's brow frowned even more, and his blue eyes darkened. "Why are you defending them? You know nothing about them. Those are some wild creatures who don't speak any civilised language. We could offer them so much more and bring progress and education. They just don't know it yet."

Celia scoffed. "Just because you don't understand them doesn't mean they are not civilised. You saw the prisoner. He bleeds and suffers the same as us. That's enough proof that they are the same as us."

Gabriel raised a brow. "And based on that brilliant analysis, you chose them over your own people. You decided it's better to raise against us, kill the innocents in hopes you'll be accepted by those..." his face turned to a scowl, "barbarians? Why did you do that?"

"You never told me your true intentions," Celia replied with a voice cold as ice. "It was me who gave you the patent for flying ships. It seemed fair you deserved a parting gift for trying to manipulate me."

"It's not a game, Celia. Do you know how many good people died because of your stunt? Ten. All of them civilians─ engineers and technicians. Simon among them."

Lyra covered her mouth to muffle the painful sob, but Gabriel was not taking his eyes off Celia.

"Was it worth it? As you can see, it didn't change a thing. Did you think that facility was the only one I owned? Did you think I would show you all my cards just like that?"

Celia smiled bitterly. "Of course not. After all, I'm a pirate and can't be trusted."

"I wanted to trust you. We were so perfect together. How could you ruin that?" For the first time since she knew Gabriel, his voice shook with emotions ─ anger, disappointment and regret.

Celia swallowed the growing lump in her throat. "It was nothing more than an illusion. We both saw the things we wanted to see. It ends now. I'm leaving, and you can't stop me."

"I think I can. You forget I have all those ships chasing after you. How much fuel do you have left? Will you even make it through the mountains? I can give you one last chance. Return the prisoner to me, and turn back from this suicidal mission."

"I refuse. Now get off my ship before I kill you."

"If you wanted to kill me, you would do that before you left."

Everyone around Celia pulled their guns, aiming at Gabriel.

Celia smirked. "I might not be able to kill you myself, but my crew certainly don't have such silly reservations. I would withdraw if I were you, Gabriel."

He raised his hands. "You know I can't let you go, Celia, not with the prisoner on your ship and with the knowledge of all our plans. If you refuse to cooperate, this will make you my enemy. Do you really want that?"

"We are already enemies, Gabriel." Celia pulled out her revolver and aimed at his chest. "Now, get off my ship. It's your last warning."

Gabriel sighed and closed his eyes. "So be it." He opened his eyes and bowed slightly. "Farewell, Captain de Visher. May Lady Luck be with you. You will need her assistance." With that, he turned on his heel and returned to Little Fish.