Willow nervously followed the rest of the crew off the ship and down the docks. The presence of the unity galleon was making her uneasy, but it did nothing to quell the excitement she felt from being off the ship and back on solid land for the first time in three days. She always hated flying, ever since she was young. It gave her such an awful sense of vertigo. Willow was a Terran, a creature of the earth, she didn't belong so high in the sky. It hadn't been an issue for most of her life, any destination she needed to get to could be reached with a horse and cart, or even just on foot. But now she needed this job, and Willow couldn't let such an inconvenient phobia hold her back.
She glanced back as they made their way to the temple, and saw Mea waving lazily to her from the deck. Willow waved back, and jogged to catch up with the rest of the crew.
The area around the temple was gated off, with a tall wall surrounding most of the tiny island. Despite the late hour the gates at the end of the docks were still open, and Keizeron noted there were no guards posted. Inside the grounds was a huge garden which completely surrounded the temples. Typically known for their beautiful blooms, the garden was currently muted after several days of continuous rain. Natural paths crossed the whole area, over cast with the leaves of dozens of exotic trees. They even had a few solovar trees, which Keiz had thought impossible. As far as he had been taught, the trees had specific needs, and could only be successfully grown in the south west forests of Reglilis. The monks of Aria kept the grounds using powerful magic, to grow rare plants like the solovar trees and create blooms from every season and climate. They also kept an impressive collection of songbirds from every continent, but they were currently hidden away in trees and nests to wait out the storm. Keizeron had actually been looking forward to seeing the gardens, but it appeared he would have to come back later if he wanted to see them in their full glory.
As the crew approached the door Keizeron’s mind was torn from his disappointment. There was a small crowd gathered in front of the temple, presumably the crew of the other non-untiy ship from the dock given their mismatched outfits. One or two of them looked up as Keiz approached, but most were focused on their own captain. At the front of the other crew was a tall bull satyr who was currently arguing with one of the poor temple monks while the unity guardsmen watched, not interfering. The monk was one of the shorter races, probably a gnome, and was wearing the pale yellow garb designated for followers of Aria. The satyr was wearing heavy metal armor, which seemed more decorative than functional, and had a large sword strapped to his back. While not forbidden, it was generally frowned upon to bring weapons into the temple. He was moving his arms in an aggravated manor, and as they drew closer Keiz could finally hear what he was saying. “- mean you can’t let us into the temple for an inspection? Do you know how much time you are wasting right now? We need to get back in the air or we’re going to miss our deadline!”
Keiz waved at his crew to stop. “Stay here, I’ll see if this is something can be resolved sooner rather than later,” he instructed, looking wearily at the other ship captain. The temple monk was saying something in response, but Keizeron couldn’t hear him over the rain at this distance. With his first mate waiting at the ready, Keiz closed the distance to the temple entrance.
“Well I don’t care that those unity dogs are going to look at the artifact, it would take five minutes for my crew to come in, see it and leave!” The minotaur continued. He clenched his fists in a display of power, towering over the terrified monk in front of him. The guards continued to do nothing, simply standing at attention and watching. It wasn’t until the furious captain turned to address one of them that the guard on the right rolled his eyes, and disappeared into the temple to get whoever was in charge of this inspection. “That’s right! Get your boss!”
“Please sir,” the monk stuttered, holding his hands up defensively. “I apologize for the inconvenience, but I can’t let anyone in right now-”
“How long is the temple closed for?” Keizeron asked once he was close enough to join in the conversation. The sailors from the other ship looked up at him, but quickly lost interested, turning back to their captain for his reaction. The minotaur still looked furious, but he quieted for a moment to see what sort of answer the newcomer would get.
The gnomish man looked relieved to have someone who wasn’t yelling ask a question. “According to the unity general that just went in the temple should reopen at dawn.”
“Dawn!” The other captain raged immediately. “You mean to waste our whole night?!” ((“This guy is such a dick harassing a service worker like this, we should beat him up.” “For once I concur, this guy is gonna get it.”))
He took a step forward, but Keiz interjected, trying to diffuse the conversation. “I agree with my friend here, until dawn seems like a long time to stop people from completing their runs. Even worse that you would stop us when we came out so late in such terrible weather.”
The monks face paled when he realized Keizeron was not on his side. He gripped the edges of his robe, wrinkling them nervously and looking down at his feet to avoid eye contact. “I- I am simply following orders. I have been told by the officials to not let anyone in until they are done and have left.” He trailed off as the door to the temple opened.
“Well well well, would you look what the cat dragged in,” Oh gods Keizeron groaned inwardly as a familiar feminine voice called out to him. A short woman stepped out of the temple, her skin a bright orange and her hair a flickering flame that hissed slightly as it was hit by the rain. She put a hand on her hip and a wide grin on her face as she looked at the gathered crowd. “If it isn’t Keizeron Yin here at the temple of Aria.”
“Aster,” Keizeron acknowledged her with a begrudging huff.
“That’s captain Aster to you,” She responded, her grin fading slightly as she tried to take a more neutral tone. Of course it had to be Aster here doing the inspection. The fire elemental woman had gone to the sailing academy with Keiz and had hated him the entire time they knew each other. The reason was a childish as it was simple; because he always beat her out at whatever they did. Keiz had always had the higher test scores, stronger magic, and even had the better swordsmanship. While his goal had never been to be the best, he had unintentionally made himself stand out too much with his skills, and his very public rivalry with Aster had lead to his accident. Following that they stopped talking at all, and after graduation she had taken one of the plentiful cushy unity gigs. He had assumed the two of them would never see each other again. He had assumed wrong.
“I see you finally have a ship, it must have been a hard year for you,” Aster observed as she looked at the gathered sailors. Keiz had to hand it to her, she was good at keeping a blank expression to obscure the fact that she was insulting you to your face. “Although, they told me there were two crews here, so not everyone is yours I’m assuming.”
“I’m captain Lycus,” The minotaur man announced, as if he was trying to prevent Aster from thinking he was just another sailor. Aster finally glanced over at him with a weary look, as if she was trying to place the name.
“Why are you here Ast- captain Aster? The temple is supposed to be open year round as far as I’m aware. I’ve never heard of it being closed for an inspection before.” Keizeron asked, trying to keep his voice in the same neutral tone she was using and failing as annoyance crept in. Even if they had a history, it wouldn’t do him well to outright accuse a unity captain of any sort of wrong doing. That's the sort of thing that could get one arrested for treason.
She spent another moment looking at Lycus before turning back to Keiz to address him, “well some things you just don’t learn at the academy, and have to get out into the world to see. The temple is regularly inspected by government officials to ensure the staff is fit and the security measures are sharp. So don’t worry yourself Keizeron, take the night off and get your blessing tomorrow.”
“That’s captain Keizeron to you,” he responded immediately, and had the satisfaction of seeing her facade break as she frowned at him. It was the little things.
Halfway across the garden Sola was keeping an eye on the rest of the crew as he watched their captain argue with the unity captain. She was a bit shorter than him but still had an imposing figure. Her fiery hair matched her glowing orange eyes, as if she had just crawled out of a fire pit. Sola briefly wondered how she slept without burning any pillow she might use, it seemed inconvenient.
From the other captain's hollaring as they walked up Sola could infer that the temple was closed for some sort of inspection. In his time as a sailor Sola had only been on a blessings run once before, with the second crew he had ever sailed with. The experience had been about as different as it could be. Now he watched restlessly, too tense to relax and take in the scenery like he had last time. The rest of the crew was similarly unsettled as they waited for their captain to return. None of them were chatting like they usually did in idle moments like this, and instead were nervously looking around. Aka and Zero had taken to watching the other crew intently, while Willow was looking around the garden. She was shifting her weight from foot to foot, as if she wanted to go explore the gardens but knew she shouldn’t wander off.
“Something is wrong here,” Aka said quietly as they came to stand next to Sola. Their ears were flat against the side of their head, an admission of fear Sola had not seen before. “These people are up to no good.”
“How can you tell?” Sola asked. He had been observing the other crew for a while now, and tried to take a quick stock as Aka was talking to him. Other than the captain there were seven sailors gathered, and were a pretty mixed bunch. A few elves, a dwarf, an air elemental and a single towering lizard folk. Two were women, but the rest were men. Or at least he was pretty sure, it was hard to tell with lizard folk at a distance. They all wore common sailors garb, but were pretty mismatched in colors and style. However, it was hard to judge them for that, Sola and the rest of his crew didn’t really match either. As he stared at their clothes Sola realized something alarming.Every single one of them was armed. The captain wasn’t trying to hide the sword strapped to his back as if it was to distract from the rest of their knives just barely poking out of pockets or boots, or hands in their clothes clearly prepping for something. Sola frowned.
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While Aka tried to articulate their concerns, Zero walked up to Sola’s other side. “I do not mean to alarm you, but I think I recognize one of them. And I am quite certain she is a pirate,” it clanked, raising an arm to point out the woman. Both Aka and Sola quickly grabbed his arm and yanked it back down.
“If these people are actually pirates, it would behoove us to not let them know we’re on to them,” Sola hissed.
“Bee- hoove?” Zero repeated in confusion.
Aka ignored his question and yanked on his arm, “how can you be sure she’s a pirate if you’re not sure you recognize her?”
Zero tilted his head slightly, water dripping off of it’s smooth surface and onto Sola. “My memory is perhaps,, not all there. But I do have a bad feeling when I look at that woman with the red bandanna. She’s hurt me before.”
Aka looked like they wanted to question Zero further, but Sola cut them off. “Listen, if we all have a bad feeling I don’t think proof matters right now. If these people are pirates then we need to get Keizeron out of there. Even if they’re not, its still better safe than sorry right?” The three of them looked up to where their captain was still talking with the unity officer.
Sola took a step forward when he heard a voice behind him. “Hey,” Willow grabbed his shirt and pulled him back. “Who’s that on the wall?”
She was pointing behind her in a way that wasn’t very obvious, and the three of them followed her direction. To the east of them, a bit off from the main gate there was a tall figure on the garden wall, just barely visible in the pouring rain. He didn’t realize he had been spotted as it looked like he was focused on the the main door of the temple. Exactly where Keiz was standing. As they watched he fiddled with something just out of view for a moment, and then pulled out a long bow which he aimed at the unity captain.
“Ah, Fuck,” Aka said dryly as Sola broke into a run towards the temple.
“Captain!” He boomed, “it’s a set up!”
The gathered crowd turned to look at him; Keizeron and Aster appeared surprised but the other crew was clearly annoyed. Even over the sound of the rain Sola could hear the twang of the long bow being loosed. With his warning, the two captains at the door were able to avoid being hit by the arrow as it sailed towards them, and it struck the temple wall with a loud crack. But as they stared in bewilderment a thin sheet of paper that had been tied to the shaft lit up with a series of runes and started to hiss. Sola barely had time to close his good eye before the paper exploded with a deafening bang and a blinding flash of light.
Sola staggered, his ears ringing and his vision blurred, but he kept running forward. It was clear this is what the other crew had been waiting for, as they sprang into action after the flash bang went off. They must have used some sort of spell to prevent damage from the bomb, since none of them seemed affected by it. The minotuar lunged forward, drawing his sword from his back as he grabbed the unity captain. She had no time to react as he shoved her through the still open temple door, most of his crew following him. The lizard man hung back as the rest of the pirates disappeared, and he pulled a scimitar that way too big to have been hidden in his jacket like that. With a deft motion he cut down the other unity guard who had been at the door, and turned to kick the poor monk. (("What a bad day that guy is havin, huh?"))
Once the two temple workers were dispatched the lizard man turned towards Keizeron with a loud laugh. He raised his bloody blade for another strike, grinning wickedly. Before he could bring it down Sola closed the distance between them, and with a small motion he activated the shield rune on his left knuckle. Sola slammed into the much larger lizard man with a reinforced punch that sent the pirate flying. He collided with the temple wall with a heavy thud, and sank to the ground unmoving. Sola doubted he was dead, but he didn’t feel the need to finish the job as his thoughts turned back to his captain.
The first mate turned to kneel next to Keizeron, but was startled by a loud bang from behind him. Sola glanced up, blinking his good eye rapidly. Willow and Zero were both running towards him, while Aka was exchanging shots with the pirate on the wall who had started the fight. Another arrow wizzed past Aka, narrowly avoiding them, but Sola was relieved to see it didn’t have anything tied to it. Aka took steady aim and fired their pistol again, and this time the pirate fell backwards and out of sight. With a satisfied smirk Aka joined the rest of them, tucking their gun back into their jacket.
Willow knelt on Keizeron's other side, assessing him rapidly for any injuries. He had his hands on his ears and his eyes were screwed shut with pain, but other than that he didn't have any physical wounds. “Here,” she said gently as she moved her hands to either side of his face. A green glow emanated from her palms, and after a moment he opened his eyes, coming back into focus.
“Where’s Aster?” He gasped, looking around at the aftermath around him. He leaned forward, trying to get back to his feet and staggered, Zero catching him easily.
“Everyone else went inside,” Sola reported, looking anxiously at the door, and then back to the path that lead to the docks. It would be unwise to assume all the pirates were in the temple, and Mea was on the ship alone.
“Shit,” Keiz hissed under his breath. Leaning on Zero he pulled himself up, grimacing as he turned to his crew. “I’m not leaving her. Sola I want you to get back to the ship. Protect Annie Mea and get us ready to fly out of here as soon as possible. The rest of you,”
He trailed off as he surveyed the crew, knowing what he was about to say was a hard sell. He couldn’t bring himself to ask them to risk their lives fighting pirates for someone who wasn’t even his friend anymore. But to go after her alone would be even more reckless and he knew it.
Fortunately his crew understood his plight without having to hear the end of it. “We’ll back you up, just make this quick,” Willow nodded, quickly standing back up.
“I have to advise against this,” Aka protested. “None of you are even armed.”
Zero shook his head and activated his gauntlets. “This is the right thing to do.”
Aka groaned as it dawned on them they were outnumbered. They pulled their gun back out, checking to make sure it was loaded and ready to go.
Seeing that they were getting prepared, Sola nodded to the group. “Be fast, come back safe!” He told them quickly, before turning on his heels and running back out to the docks. Keiz gave him a nod before he was out of sight, and having recovered enough to stand on his own he pulled away from Zero.
Keizeron looked at the crewmates he had left. Aka held their gun pointed down with their finger off the trigger, looking slightly annoyed. Zero was adjusting his gauntlets, inspecting them to make sure they were battle ready after being fixed the day before. Willow was watching him nervously, as if she was afraid he would faint from his injures still. She lacked confidence in her magic, Keiz noted sourly. Which would be a problem if that was all she was armed with at the moment.
Not wanting to waste anymore time, Keizeron motioned for the team to be silent, and cautiously opened the temple door. Inside the foyer was quite, no one was left to prevent them from being followed. The pirates must have already moved in to the inner sanctum. Keiz motioned for the crew to follow, and headed inside. Aka and Zero followed quickly, but Willow waited a moment outside of the door, staring blankly at the bodies of the guard and the monk that had been slain by the pirate. She whispered a quick prayer to Vothos, wishing them a safe passage to the next life. Feeling a bit underwhelmed but knowing she didn’t have time for more, Willow moved on.
The foyer was dark, only a single torch was lit on the far wall, and the light spell that powered it was flickering with uncertainty. If they had been visiting under circumstances this room would have been a marvel. Though it didn’t have much furniture, it had a painted mural and a stained glass piece that were the center of attention. All across the back wall was a painting depicting scenes from each of the continents, colored brightly to highlight were the borders of each land lay. Across the lands a single airship floated above, creating a swirling pattern in the mural to represent its journey. Then on the back wall was the glass creation, depicting Aria in all her splendor. She was a being made of pure golden light, with her power radiating away from her across clear blue skies. She had a ringed halo, and was looking up, crying white tears. In her hands was the senka rod, with each of its ten pieces depicted by a different pane of glass. Every section of the rod had a precious gem in the center of it, creating a rainbow of colors that mimicked the mural on the other side. Together they made a story that no one in the room had time to read at the moment.
Keiz carefully stepped through the room. On either side of the mural of Aria was a door leading into the inner sanctum where the first piece of the senka rod was kept. The doors were shut, but Keizeron could see light coming from the cracks under the door, and could hear shouting coming from ahead of him. He leaned closer to the door, trying to make out what was being said. The shouting became louder, but he still couldn’t understand any of it.
Their captain cussed under his breath, before his eyes lit up with an idea. He pulled a handkerchief from a pocket in his jacket, and wrapped it around his hand. Keiz held it up so his team could see what he was doing, and drew a rune in the air with the scrap of fabric. With a small violet flash, the handkerchief lit up, and Keizeron’s vissage changed. Once the light died away, Keiz took a step back, looking down at his new scaly arms. He now had the appearance of the pirate Sola had knocked out.
Zero clapped, clearly impressed with the magic, until Aka grabbed his arm to silence him. They could already tell his lack of subtlety was going to a headache for them.
“I’m going to go ahead, but I’ll signal you when you can enter. Stay alert,” Keiz instructed as he drew himself up to his new height. Keizeron was not a short man, but lizard folk were significantly taller than he was.
Once his crew had confirmed their orders Keiz opened the door and slipped into the inner sanctum as quietly as he could. The main chamber itself was beautifully decorated with gilded marble from the ceiling to the floor. In the back, in front of a huge stained glass rainbow was the statue of Aria with the piece of the Senka rod held firmly in her outstretched hands. She was in the same pose as her other depiction, but unlike in the mural from the room before she was made of white marble instead of shining gold. Above the statue there was a sky light, and in better weather it would allow the rod to continue to bathe in Aria’s light despite being inside. Standing in front of her was captain Lycus, who had his scimitar jammed under Aster’s throat as he faced off with the unity officers. She still looked dazed from the attack outside, and was gritting her teeth furiously.
Behind Lycus was the group of pirates he had brought with him, all jeering and holding their weapons menacingly. Some were not even holding their weapons properly Keiz noted, they were trying to win this through intimidation alone. Keiz almost wanted to laugh at their audacity, until he glanced over to where the unity officers were standing. Though tense, they had their weapons held loosely at their sides, and were looking to Aster for direction instead of holding their own. It genuinely surprised Keizeron that they would rather sacrifice the piece of the rod then lose one of their captains. A talented captain sure, but a new one.
As he entered the room several of the pirates turned to look at him, but upon seeing what they thought was their crew mate they turned back to the officers. Some were even laughing, thinking he was reinforcements to help their cause. Keizeron said nothing as he stalked up behind them, his spell changed his appearance, not his voice. However, he did snarl at the unity officers, in a way that was not entirely acting. The pirate captain paid him no mind as he joined the rest of the crew, but unfortunately it seemed like he was done with whatever yelling he had been doing before Keiz got there.
The room was quite as the unity officers stared at them. Keiz could almost see the gears turning as they tried to think of a way to save their captain without losing her head. Lycus squeezed the blade, and Keiz saw a droplet of blood start to form from where the skin was tearing. He was about to drop his disguise to cast a spell when Aster let out a small cry of pain. “Stand down,” She mustered.
To his surprise, the unity guards all looked at each other and dropped their weapons, holding their hands up in defeat. Lycus roared with laughter to see them so bested, but Keiz knew better. Maybe he was too on guard now after being caught unawares by the flash bang, but something felt wrong here in a way he couldn’t describe.
“Kira, grab the thing,” Lycus commanded, looking at the woman standing to his right and tilting his head towards the statue. The underling, an elf wearing a bright red bandanna, scrambled to attention. Without lowering her blade, she moved forward. “That’s right no sudden moves. No one plays the hero and your precious captain keeps 'er head another day,” The minotaur snarled as Kira climbed onto the base of the statue.
They all watched wordlessly as the elf woman grabbed the arm of the statue to pull herself up. She struggled briefly to pull it out as Aria's grip on the rod was more firm than she had planned for. Finally, with a loud grunt of effort, the rod came free. Kira jumped back down onto the tiled floor, holding her prize up triumphantly.
The pirate crew had a brief moment to cheer, when the wall behind the statue exploded violently, sending the elf woman and the rod flying. The senka rod bounced loudly across the tiles, and landed perfectly at Keizeron’s currently lizard like feet.
