For a few moments, everyone who was present at this strange scene fell silent. The confused pirates wanted to pay attention to what's going on, but of course they could only do so with their ears, while avoiding looking at their opposition. Chio and Arabel were rather surprised too. The st time the sex-demon saw Iesha Silverlight was during the csh right outside Cornertown, when their mercenary group was attacked by Mia and the Maidens of Death. Arabel fled from that one-sided battle together with Bashaq, and she never got to know what happened to their elf ally. She asked Grunt Holrd about her when they were staying at his pce just before this voyage, but the half-orc pimp did not know about Iesha either, she wasn't with the returning sellswords.

  With this unexpected development, neither Chio nor Arabel could muster up any words straight away, they just spectated the elf below. She walked up the pnk between the two vessels, pushing one of the crawling succubus-sick pirates out of her way like it's only natural (he spshed in the water below). She then climbed over the handrails, put her hands on her hips, and stared up at the two winged beings on the mast.

  “Look at you two sexy beasts! It's good to see you girls are okay.”

  “Iesha, what the fuck?” a pirate yelled from Heartbreaker.

  Not only did their supposed easy target turn out to hide a succubus and an angry angel, but now one of their own crew members was suddenly acting all casual with them, as if she just ran into some old friends in a marketpce. It was certainly a weird turn of events.

  “Rex, you all, just let me talk things through with them! You too, Carlos,” the elf put her hand on her captain's shoulder, who was the only one other than her who managed to get on Annabelle. Sitting on the floor, the man gnced up at the elf, and nodded with a half-smile.

  “Everyone, let them talk!” he shouted to his men on the other ship.

  “Iesha, it's good to see you are okay too!” Chio said at st. “But... uhm... why are you a pirate?”

  The woman ughed. “And why are you an angel? That's even more strange, don't you think?”

  “Well, Sister Mary...” the girl paused. As far as she knew, Mary was still keeping Ariel's Gratitude safe, the artifact she used to turn her. A group of pirates probably shouldn't be aware of that, she thought.

  “Oh, that nun friend of yours?” the elf picked her nails. “She did it, huh?”

  “What do you want, Iesha?” asked Arabel in her demonic voice. “You think you can talk us out of defending ourselves?”

  “Defending yourselves? I'm not sure there is a need for that, you know. We are after this ship and its rich passengers, we don't necessarily have business with you. So again: what are you girls doing here?”

  “We are traveling to the Scorched Lands,” Chio said.

  “Duh,” the red sex-demon added.

  “Is that it?” asked Iesha. “In that case, we can just drop you off there, anywhere you want, really.”

  The winged lovers exchanged a look, then the angel dashed off the rope-dder and nded right in front of the elf.

  “Iesha, the passengers of this ship do not deserve this happening to them! We've been traveling with them for days, we won't just let it happen!”

  “We won't harm them! We will treat them with dignity, well, as much as possible in a scenario like this. Our captain, Carlos here,” she tapped him on the top of his hat, “is quite all right. You can trust me on this, Chio!”

  “But why? You can't just...”

  “Allow me to introduce myself, miss!” the pirate captain stood up, but he kept facing the opposite way from Chio (and the mast behind her with the succubus). “I'm Carlos Wayne, captain of Heartseeker. I defeated the previous captain of this infamous pirate ship four years ago, and I took over his position of command. I gave the ship a new name too, which reflects the contrast between our ways. What once was Heartbreaker is now Heartseeker.”

  The angel stared at the tall, pale man's nape as he talked.

  “We intend to capture this ship for two reasons. Firstly, pirates have to make a living. This imposing vessel is quite valuable on its own, let alone its cargo. Its passenger could be held for ransom too, but make no mistake, they will end up home one way or another. It will be but an unexpected detour in their exotic adventure. Worse things have happened in this world than the wealthy being tricked out of some of their wealth.”

  “Heh, that's a lot of words for pirates doing pirate shit,” the succubus commented from above.

  “Secondly,” Carlos Wayne raised a finger to signal to hold on, except he did so facing the wall of the aftercastle, like he was talking to an imaginary audience. “Secondly, this project of the minister Ike Lazarus, this Newchance pce, it might pose an existential threat to the pirate town Murky Bay. Lazarus settled down surprisingly not too far from it, considering the Scorched Lands make up an entire continent. He has a lot of armed guards, and he does not seem particurly friendly towards us. If Newchance takes off, it could be bad news for Murky Bay, and I'm invested in Murky Bay. Obviously the pce is a bit of a mixed bag, as one would expect from a pirate town, but ultimately, it's a pce for folks who belong nowhere else. These past four years, I have been working on supporting and elevating the town, its fate is important to me.”

  “He is not bullshitting, Chio,” Iesha decred. “He really did make a difference, I can attest to it.”

  “Hmmm,” the angel stared up at Arabel with an uncertain expression.

  “And therefore,” Carlos continued, “this operation of ours is as much sabotage as it is opportunism. It's in our interest for Ike Lazarus to not gain more supporters, and losing one of his ships will hurt him too. We need this, fallen angel Chio! Can you see that?”

  “Uhm... I suppose. Even so...”

  “But again, we have no reason not to let you two be,” Iesha stated. “If we sent you back to Midridge, who would even pay ransom for you two? Holrd? No way. Heck, you could maybe even join us!”

  “Hold on, that succubus just turned several of our mates mad!” someone yelled from Heartbreaker – or rather, Heartseeker.

  “You should know that casualties happen in this line of occupation, my friend!” Captain Wayne reacted. “We will spare time to mourn them ter.”

  “Hold on!” Arabel said. “What you mean, who would pay ransom for us? You are talking like you guys have any chance to capture us. Don't think you are the ones who will dictate what's gonna happen, Iesha!”

  “Of course! You are a really badass battle hardened succubus, and Chio is apparently a literal angel now,” the elf said. “You two will clearly do what you want. I was just saying that for the sake of the argument.”

  “What if you don't ransom anyone?” Chio asked. “You can keep the ship as far as we are concerned, but you don't have to torture the passengers further. They already went through enough.”

  “Did they?” Carlos jerked his head up.

  “I think that's fair,” said Iesha. “What you think, man?”

  “I suppose we don't need to ransom them,” the captain conceded. “I promise you, fallen angel Chio, that we will simply deliver them back to Midridge without a scratch, and without ransoming. I swear on my mother's grave. How about that?”

  The angel once again gnced up at Arabel, who shrugged. “I guess if Iesha is vouching for this guy...”

  Chio suddenly heard the buzzing of tiny wings rapidly approach her from behind, and then a fairy nded on her shoulder.

  “Chio, you dumdum, if you're seriously willing to go along with this, you have to make this asshole swear they won't touch any of my stuff! Cause there is no way in hell I'll let them!”

  “Wow! You've got a little fairy companion?” the elf smiled.

  “I'm not some pet, you bitch!”

  “I didn't mean to imply that.”

  The angel walked past Iesha and Carlos, facing the pirate captain together with the grumpy Friska. The tall, light-skinned man's beard was pale-brown, just like his thin, straight hair sticking out from beneath his green hat. He wore bck boots, and an unbuttoned brown coat over a white shirt. He looked a little sickly, but his dark eyes were full of life and energy, and he had sort of a theatrical elegance to him.

  Chio said: “Promise me to deliver the passengers and the crew safely back to Midridge, and let them have all their belongings too. That goes for everyone on this ship. Friska's books and instruments, Sir Clearnd's rock collection, if I learn your men have even just touched any of their stuff without permission, then... then me and Arabel will have no choice but to fight you.”

  “Way to go, Chio!” the succubus cheered.

  Carlos got on one knee in front of the angel, and bowed down. “Then it shall be as you ask, Miss! But since I intend to send this vessel straight to the Scorched Lands, we will escort its people over to Heartseeker. They will have to deal with our hospitality for a little while, but I'll make sure their belongings will stick with them all the way. Is that all right?”

  From the corner of her eye, the girl gnced at Friska, who was still sitting on her shoulder. “Did you hear our whole conversation? I understand this might feel unfair to you, but this elf woman is our old friend, so...”

  “For fuck's sake, Chio, I got it,” the fairy said. “Don't make me consent to my own kidnapping, just do what you gotta do!”

  Chio gulped, and extended a hand towards the kneeling pirate a little hesitantly. He took it and stood up with a smile. “I will now tell my boys to come over, to escort the passengers across. Would you mind asking your friend to hide her appearance?”

  “I can hear you myself, buddy!”

  Arabel jumped off the mast, and turned back to her human form. Her naked human form. To her surprise, Iesha dashed to her and hugged her. “You did really fucking well back in Cornertown. Chio, you too! Thanks for getting rid of my sister!”

  “Your welcome,” the redhead grinned.

  “Come on ds, the coast is clear!” Captain Carlos yelled, and his men began to move. “Bring over Kraus' son too! Oh, where is Captain Kraus, if I may ask?” he turned to the others.

  “Sleeping,” Friska replied.

  Unsurprisingly, Annabelle's passengers did not take this development very well. They were all gathered up in the lounge room alongside the ship's crew, who armed themselves with kitchen's accessories, waiting nervously. Although Chio went with the pirates to meet them, hoping her angelic appearance might help calm everyone down, it didn't really work – if anything, it only added to people's confusion.

  As chaos ensued, Mrs. Clearnd grabbed Annabelle's dwarf second-in-command with a surprising amount of strength, lifting him up and demanding him to make his men fight, but Chio rescued the guy, pleading with him to tell his men to submit peacefully instead. There was a lot of shouting and begging and screaming, but since the pirates were well-armed and quite intimidating, the dwarf decided to surrender. Carlos then yelled to grab people's attention, and he made a little preach, promising everyone that they will be safe, decring that they are only after the ship and its cargo, and asking them all to grab their luggage. The sailors were faster to comply, as their boss made his choice already, and besides, if they were to fight, their own skin would have been on the line. As they left the lounge to go and pick up their hammocks and to show the cargo to their captors, the passengers had no choice but to accept their fate too.

  Folks went back to their cabins to get their belongings, and several of the pirates remained in the aftercastle, standing around in the corridor, watching over the cruisers. Chio's eyes met with Porco's for a moment as the young man was standing in the door of his cabin. He seemed kind of resentful and disappointed, and he quickly disappeared in his room. The angel cast her gaze down, and then Iesha put her hand on her shoulder.

  “Don't feel bad, girl! You know how it is to be an outcast. This is for the sake of our ragged weirdo people. For Murky Bay.”

  “Will this really help those people?”

  “It will, it's just like how Carlos expined. Of course we can't know how Lazarus will react, but if we can make things harder for him, we will.”

  “Captain!” a pirate suddenly ran past them towards Carlos Wayne, who was talking with the dwarf-sailor on the other end of the passageway. “Captain, our bloody ship!”

  Carlos hurried out onto the main deck, Chio and Ieasha followed him. Just as they got outside, Arabel was walking out of the forecastle on the other side, where she put some clothes on.

  The ropes of the grappling hooks have been cut, the pnks were pulled back, and Heartseeker was now moving away from them, westwards. A tall man in white was standing at the very back of it, staring at Annabelle.

  “I can't believe it...” Carlos grasped the handrails.

  “That fucking Goldman,” Arabel said as she joined them. “What is he doing there?”

  “Is that what he said his name is?” Carlos asked. “That man is none other than Warren Crown.”

  “Wait, what?” Iesha jerked her head up. “I thought you killed him.”

  “I wish I could have,” Carlos sighed.

  Chio and Arabel exchanged a look. They both recalled Thora's ominous words instantly. Remember his name: Warren Crown.

  “Is he that previous pirate captain you mentioned?” the angel asked.

  “Yep.”

  “That fucker... I knew something's off about him,” Arabel said. “You want us to fly after him? Me and Chio could...”

  “No!” the captain declined intensely. “No, it's not your battle to fight. You can't just recklessly attack Warren Crown, not without a good pn. We have to let him go.”

  “But Carlos, a good third of our men are still there!” Iesha said. “What is he gonna do to them?”

  “Well, he does need a crew of his own. They should simply obey him, for their own sake. Seems like they are already doing that.”

  Chio turned to her lover: “Arabel, those guys who bullied Terry, they said Goldman was the one who told them about us, right?”

  “Of course he was.”

  “What's that?” Carlos asked.

  “Just as you guys were approaching us, we had a little bit of a fight below deck.” Arabel expined. “I think he orchestrated it, he provoked those guys to attack our friend. The boy who was feeding me.”

  “Hmmm.”

  “And then... he must have been the one who murdered poor Madam Birch!” Chio realized.

  The succubus nodded. “Who else?”

  “But why?”

  “Because he is an evil man,” Captain Carlos decred. “Sounds like he knew we are coming, so he created some chaos for us. I suppose he wanted to draw you two out to keep us occupied.”

  “Well, it sort of worked I guess,” said Arabel.

  “So now what?” asked Iesha.

  Carlos Wayne turned his back to his ship drifting away. Most of his men gathered on the main deck by now, as well as some of Annabelle's curious sailors. “All right everyone, change of pns!”