^^ Crimson Victory / The Bleeding Dawn ^^

— Fildred's Bay, 56 EoE —

— Levy —

I had very little Patience, the past few weeks. Returning to Fildred's Bay, watching the ships pull in and out of the harbor, feeling the phantom sensations of walking on the deck of a ship, it all filled me with nostalgia, but my own ship, the Freed Squall, was long gone, burnt to the waterline by the Red Dawn before I even moved northward. Still, getting back out onto the ocean finally after so long away was on my mind every second of every day.

Then, my chance arrived, in the most aggressively forward way that Fate had ever shown herself to me; I was literally hit in the face by a length of rope, and I looked up to see a flying ship, hovering over the city while pirates swung off the sides. "Ahhh, and Gor provides!!!" I cackled madly, my hands already on the rope before Chevy, in her infinite wisdom, even noticed the problem. Ignoring the enemies, I leapt and began to climb the rope, my bright blue gaze intent on the ship itself; the pirates were an issue, yes, but I had Byrnhildr to handle the killing bits. I wanted the wheel.

Halfway up the rope, I met my first pirate, who was rappelling down too fast to stop in time, and slammed into my raised sword, right in the groin. In this scenario, I got to see a failure of the human nervous system, as his immediate reaction was to grab the wound... thus releasing the rope. He plummeted to the ground, splattering across the cobbles, and I kept climbing, reaching the railing and swinging myself aboard with a roar of ardor, only to pause at the bloody deck in front of me, and the siblings standing back to back at the center, surrounded by the ten or so pirates who'd remained on board instead of sliding down the ropes below.

"Seriously? Teleportation is cheating!!!" I hollered at Yuki and Tarō while they tore through the crowd, charging towards the Wheel; I was now in a race to reach the helmsman and the ship's captain, to ensure at least that victory was mine. Halfway there, I paused as the captain hunched over, clutching a ghostly arrow that'd gone right through his heart. "The hell?" Following the trajectory, I saw Hachirō, up in the rigging, holding a weird bow that looked like a bent staff and had a ghostly green string, and already aiming another green arrow at the Helmsman, who was holding the captain's body as he bled out. "Hey!!! Help your siblings, you little shit!!!"

He raised an eyebrow down at me, then aimed at one of the other crow's nests, loosing and dropping a hidden enemy out of the riggings above Taro's head.

"Good enough! Let's dance, then! It's been two years since I've gotten to kill an enemy, and by Gor I'm overdue!!!" I grinned at the Helmsman, who was now steadily pointing the captain's longsword at me as I approached. His side of the next few exchanges was surprisingly skilled, parrying and deflecting with an almost polite form, like he was apologizing to his sword every time it had to clash with mine, but despite his skill, I had been killing pirates in sword duels for almost thirty years. In Vanaheim, that wasn't saying very much, but here, in a human city, I was finally amongst peers again! In my joy, I couldn't resist coaching him like I had my own crew for decades. "Come on, is that the best you can do?!? Do you want to disappoint me?!? Try harder!!! Parry, thrust, riposte, thank you, you're welcome, may I come in, please do; honestly, who taught you fencing? Terribly rote, utterly predictable! A nobleman's dueling, that's what that is! You're a Pirate, now fight like one!!!"

"Shut... up!!!" He swung a foot at me suddenly, catching my ankle, and I laughed as I went down, planting my off-hand and swiping my other heel across his jaw as I leaned towards the ground, then stood up with a wide grin while he hit the floor, holding his cheek.

"Ha! Well done, you have a sword in one hand; you still have two feet and a free hand, use everything! Up, Up! You're alright, I barely tapped you!" He froze, looking behind me, and I looked down at my shadow instead of turning around; a common amateur's mistake I was too wise to fall for. My shadow showed two werewolves, one holding a long spear across his shoulders and the other cleaning her teeth with long and bloody claws. "Ah, damn, you're already done with your fight? That's... embarrassing."

To my instant joy, a hand clasped the edge of the ship, and Byrnhildr finally climbed up, gasping for breath, and collapsed onto the planks. "I... hate... all of you..."

"Oh... Byrn..." I sighed, shaking my head and walking over, pouring some of my water skin on her head to cool her off, then the rest went into her mouth as she grabbed it and chugged the contents.

"Aunty, you need to keep up with Dad's Workouts more often; rope climbing should not tire you out like that." Hachirō appeared next to us like a wisp of smoke, smirking at my reflexive flinch, and tempted Byrnhildr with another water skin, this one full of grog, it smelled like, which got her up onto her feet instantly.

"Of course." I sighed, then looked at the helmsman, who was once again on his feet, but looking wildly confused as to what to do next. "Now, where were we? I assume you're surrendering?"

He grimaced, holding his purloined sword aloft in a guard. "Unfortunately, I refuse to be hung for Piracy nor tortured for Heresy, so you'll be taking my head the hard way, thanks."

"Ah... well that's a shame, I rather liked dueling you. Still, better safe than sorry, I always say!" I sighed and pulled the Dwarven revolver from the back of my belt, shooting him in the knee with an echoing crack that made all the elves nearby, (my niece and nephews, plus now Heart of Gold, Haze of Mind, and Light of Steps had joined us, the pirates below doubtlessly dead or captured,) yelp in pain and protect their hearing.

"SHIT!!! This is why I left Darrow in Grimforge!!!" Heart of Gold hissed, rubbing her ears angrily while glaring at me, or more specifically the gun in my hand.

"Yeah, I know, funny fellow, I stole this from him when we visited the temple of Gor a few years ago, terribly powerful little thing. Much better than my old Cannons, I like it! Now! You, little man, are surrounded by a dozen Inquisitors, and only one fellow Pirate; I suggest you speak to me, so that you don't have to squeal to them." The revolver clicked softly as I rolled the cylinder to the next round, cocking the hammer back and aiming for his other kneecap.

"... well first, I'm a woman; second, you just killed my father, and third: even if I were to choose to speak to you, you haven't even asked any questions?"

I glanced at the dead captain, then shrugged callously. "Well, you profit or you die, in piracy, don't dwell on it. My questions are simple: why are you attacking us, who paid you, so on and so forth, don't play stupid, you're far too handsome for that, my dear boy! Or, girl, I suppose, sorry." Her eyes narrowed, sharpening dangerously as I dismissed her father's death so casually, but I could see the math, the calculation, as she examined the situation and planned how best to get her vengeance. I could see the very moment she decided to play the wounded puppy, to tug on our heartstrings, and so I shot her in the other kneecap, ignoring Heart of Gold's enraged hissing in the background. "You think you're the first Snake I've ever dealt with? Dearest, I was a pirate in the Gilded Strait for twenty years, you aren't even close to fooling me! I can see the plan coming together in your eyes, plain as day! Now, if you'd like to survive this encounter-"

"I already found all their records, she kept a stash of copies of all the important documents, after the captain burnt all the originals. Even their maps were burnt, but thankfully she's stupid and untrustworthy, a worse combination I have never seen; they came from the 'Wundergrand' Region, and more specifically, an island in the archipelago of 'Gervae', where they wintered before receiving a commission from the Red Dawn to capture us... they were commissioned a week ago, so the timing would have been almost perfect for them to steal one of us during the Events a few days ago, had the City Lord not gotten antsy and gone ahead with the Red Dawn's plans a whole week early." Hachirō, that sneaky little brat, appeared next to me, holding a sheaf of papers and a rolled-up route map while smirking victoriously at the pirate. "Anything to add?"

The pirate lunged for him and the papers, but just got slammed down onto the planks bonelessly, unconscious from Heart of Gold's gauntleted fist slamming the top of her skull. "Well done, Little Eight, we've made quite the Inquisitor out of you, haven't we?!" She smiled and tousled his hair, making him blush slightly from the high praise, at least from her, and the affectionate nickname, which it took her a moment to realize she'd said aloud, instantly looking scandalized and hugging him to her unarmored chest tightly. "Oh!!! My deepest apologies, Heart of Cedar, I didn't mean to use your name! Forgive me?"

He blushed even more as the affection continued, but cleared his throat and attempted to speak politely. "Ah, well, it's fine, I am axiomatically unharmed, and no strangers are currently present... unless you count the Dead and unconscious, which I do not. Besides, Little Eight isn't my real name anyway."

She paused, looking down at his face squished into her matronly bust, her ears fluttering slightly in that expression of confusion or irritation that none of the elves seemed to be able to do on purpose. "It isn't?"

"No, my name is Hachirō, Aunty; Little Eight is a translation of it, because my name actually means 'Eighth-Born Son'. And, don't tell my Mom but, I like Heart of Cedar way more than being called 'Eighth-Born Son'. I mean, I get it, when you have fifteen kids, you can't afford too much creativity, but the girls got real names!" Done complaining, he wiggled free of her chest, then dusted himself off pointlessly, straightening his clothes and removing any sign of exertion or combat instantly. "Regardless! I've killed the Captain, does that make me the Captain, Aunt Levy?"

My eyebrow twitched irritably, but I nodded slowly. "Yep... that's how that works..."

He laughed, shaking his head. "I'm just playing with you, Aunty, go take the wheel and get us off of the city; I'll reel up the ropes hanging over the side with Aunty Byrnhildr. Tarō, Yuki! We have transportation down south now!!! Didn't I say I could handle it?"

—

It turned out, most if not all of the paperwork and nightmares of transferring a Ship's Title to someone else was skipped over with ease by virtue of one sentence: 'This Ship is War-Spoils of the Church of Fenrir, won in Combat from the Cult of The Red Dawn, during an Ordained Holy Crusade'. Just like that, paperwork was swept aside, tax collectors kicked rocks, and a permanent dock was built on the Castle Walls for the enormous flying ship, previously named 'Crimson Victory', -likely on account of its several rings of red sails,- and now dubbed, -because Yukihime was as dramatic as her Aunt Piper and Uncle Peter,- 'The Bleeding Dawn'. I had to admit, begrudgingly, that watching those words get painted and etched into the gold-painted brass hull and stitched in gold thread into all the red sails, alongside a Magic Circle, -that Luna provided with little to no explanation-, was rather impressive.

"Is it weird to you that they sent only one ship to bother us, this time? I know they scaled back after the human wave tactics failed for the first ten hellish years, but this feels like... a whole downgrade." Ivy hummed, crossing her armored arms and glaring disdainfully down at the pirate whose kneecap I had savaged.

Luna nodded, stepping forward and then hesitating, retreating and gesturing at Tarō. "I won't interfere unless you need me to; this is your victory. I wasn't even there. I'm quite proud of you, you know, and your parents are as well, Little Soldier."

Tarō smiled at the affectionate name, then turned to the wounded pirate, his face chilling into an icy countenance with a speed and ease that made me shiver a bit. I had known plenty of pirates that could manage that level of disconnection, and none of them lived very long. At least half were killed by me, when they inevitably went too far. "Let's start simply; we know most of the things we need, so we'll focus on the details that aren't recorded. Namely: the nature of your client, and how you contact them."

She spat blood at him, and then froze when his expression didn't change in the least, literally ignoring it even as blood ran down his face in multiple places. After a few moments of utter silence, she looked away, unable to keep his gaze any longer. "I'm not telling you anything."

"Mm... I believe that you believe that. We'll work on your compliance momentarily. First, though, a few warnings."

"Spare me your self-righteous nonsense, just start cutting bits of me off already!" She hissed at him, then froze as he moved slowly, like he was trying not to scare her.

"Alright, well, I guess we can skip straight to the compliance reinforcement procedures." He nodded slowly, then extended a single finger, tapping against a spot on the inside edge of her collarbone that made her entire body seize in place, a silent scream parting her lips as all the air left her body. He removed the finger less than a second later, and let her recover enough to glare at him, before reaching the finger out again, towards her knee, which was visibly bloodied and broken. "That was a Nerve covered in flesh and bone to protect it. If I touch an exposed one and shock it... you understand that there are only so many levels of pain your mind can comprehend, and anything above that turns into white noise? The proper application of electricity can override that, and make your brain invent new forms of pain to inform you that you are being wounded."

She shivered, trying to inch away from the finger that was mere millimeters away from her wound. "You're sick! All you Inquisitor-Types, you're all sick!!!"

He ignored her response like it hadn't happened, continuing and staring into her eyes, his own as solid black as they could be.  "It's a weird little aspect of human biology that I've studied rather deeply, due to its remarkable uses in medicine and restoring damaged nerve pathways. However, like all medicine, properly,- or, improperly, depending on your perspective,- applied, it can cause normal pain to create new and exciting sensations. My aunt uses it, to her lovers' delight, to teach their bodies new forms of pleasure daily, that they cannot become inured to, keeping every interaction fresh and interesting."

Ivy raised an eyebrow, looking at Luna archly. "Is that true?"

Luna nodded casually, unbothered by the accusation. "Yes."

Tarō sighed like he was genuinely disappointed. "I, however, find that a waste of an incredible tool for manipulation. It can even be used to make a being more compliant without physical pain, by releasing happy chemicals when you do as you're told, and sad chemicals when you disappoint me. With all of that information now at your disposal, I have one statement, -a threat really, but that's semantics,- and then one question. Would you like to hear them?"

"Do I have a choice?"

"Of course! We respect Consent in this family! You can choose to not listen, and I'll just stop talking to you until you break and tell me everything. But that might have long-term negative effects on your mind, so I wouldn't recommend it."

"Long-term? You're going to kill me anyway, why would that-..." she paused, horrified understanding spreading over her face. "You're not going to kill me..."

"No? Why would I do that? Once you tell me everything I need, we'll heal up that leg of yours and send you on your way! I have no real reason to take umbrage with you. My aunt Levy is a Pirate, after all, I'm not so hypocritical as to punish you for doing what she would do!" Tarō looked genuinely displeased and offended by the assumption, which was almost worse than if he'd wanted to kill her, in my book.

"I refuse to be turned into some twisted little puppet! Just kill me, I refuse, I say! You want to respect consent? Start there!"

He nodded seriously. "Yes, well, unfortunately, your consent is not required to torture you by poking you. It is technically assault, I suppose, but that line of thinking would make every sword fight very awkward, so we'll skip that for now, and focus on what you have control of. Your Agency has three aspects: You can speak, at any time, as you haven't been gagged, you are free to attempt to escape, and you can choose to surrender or remain noncompliant for whatever length of time you deem appropriate. That is all. Would you like to hear my question now, or would you like to wait until you're in a more compliant state of mind to hear the question that will determine the rest of your entire life, from its length to overall quality?"

She gulped down the blood in her mouth, having already seen how spitting on him simply did nothing, then nodded slowly. "Alright... what's your question?"

"Simple, really: how did you plan to contact the Red Dawn, had your mission succeeded?"

"That's... that's it? Really? I answer that and you let me go?" She searched his face for something, but received only a face that may as well have been carved from glacial ice.

"Yes. Though, healing your knee requires extra credit, which I will award if I think you've been honest and helpful. Enough extra credit may even allow you to return to your pirating completely unscathed."

"I... I don't believe you."

"That is a decision you have the Agency to make." He nodded calmly, never breaking eye contact once, even when she did every few seconds.

"Right... and if I don't know the answer, or if I lie?"

His lips twitched into a small smile, showing just a hair too much fang for a fraction of a second, a tiny touch of the predator lurking beneath his skin showing through, but even that was enough to make her entire body shudder visibly. "I believe that you understand that that would be unwise. And I also believe you absolutely know the information, or else you wouldn't have said it like that. Now; you have a decision to make, yes?"