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Waking up in the city on the eastern sea after a long rest, Kaori lazily rubbed her eyes and glanced around the room, a piece of her snowy, which hair falling out of place and greeting her by means of obstructing her eyesight. A yawn forced its' way past her lips along with a slightly exaggerated sound, all tied together with Kaori placing one of her hands over her mouth until the yawn had run its' course. She rested her hands on the bed below her and used them to keep herself up right while trying to remember how she'd gotten there. "That's right..." she said under her breath after a few seconds of sleep hazed thought. She remembered how she'd gotten in that room, it was the closest thing she had to a home.
It was a memory she detested that came back to her and greeted Kaori every morning. She had enemies closing in on her, and taunted the female one to trick her into attacking. Afterwards, Kaori ran and jumped off the left side of the bridge connecting the city on the eastern sea and the magic clans' castle. A shadow clone was used as a distraction while Kaori appeared behind their male friend. The female enemy and their leader were both fooled pretty good. The woman leaned over the edge, fully convinced Kaori killed herself while holding an ice sword with a scowl on her face, the leader looked as well to see if there was a corpse under the cloud of snow. The third subordinate, the male however was clutching his chest as his own sword protruded from it, dripping with blood. That was Kaori's need for the distraction, to make sure she took at least the subordinates to hell with her. The man fell to his knees, alerting the other two to turn to see Kaori with her bow out, drawing an arrow behind him. His body hit the floor and the girl subordinate, knowing who the arrow was coming for began moving to avoid it, but was too late when she caught it with her skull.
It was a memory she detested that came back to her and greeted Kaori every morning. She had enemies closing in on her, and taunted the female one to trick her into attacking. Afterwards, Kaori ran and jumped off the left side of the bridge connecting the city on the eastern sea and the magic clans' castle. A shadow clone was used as a distraction while Kaori appeared behind their male friend. The female enemy and their leader were both fooled pretty good. The woman leaned over the edge, fully convinced Kaori killed herself while holding an ice sword with a scowl on her face, the leader looked as well to see if there was a corpse under the cloud of snow. The third subordinate, the male however was clutching his chest as his own sword protruded from it, dripping with blood. That was Kaori's need for the distraction, to make sure she took at least the subordinates to hell with her. The man fell to his knees, alerting the other two to turn to see Kaori with her bow out, drawing an arrow behind him. His body hit the floor and the girl subordinate, knowing who the arrow was coming for began moving to avoid it, but was too late when she caught it with her skull.
Standing on a broken leg and gritting her teeth, her cat mask had been damaged so badly that the metal under the porcelain was showing. Saia held an orb of pure magic in his right hand and pointed it at Kaori. Kaori grabbed her shuriken and began throwing it up, the magic inside being released just as Saia fired a blast of magic at her. A brilliant light was released as the two collided, but Kaori's magic hadn't progressed far enough to resist Saia's and the barrier she'd made broke after several seconds of her focusing her hardest to maintain it. A loud cry of pain was released as Kaori was hit with the attack and send back, slamming into the castles' door where she took the rest of the attack. Her body giving off a type of magical smoke, Kaori fell to her knees before falling face-first in the snow with blood leaking from her broken leg, the bone protruding through the flesh. She tried to get up, but could barely move. After that... everything went dark. Kaori's last memory after that was waking up in a room with someone at her bedside explaining that she was lucky to be alive.
The other bird took flight and landed on Kaori's head, leaping while turning and looking around the room. With her free hand, Kaori pulled the sheets from over her legs and got out of bed to walk to the open window. "I can't play right now, but if you come back later I'll have something for you two okay?" she said, holding her finger out the window with the one bird on it. The bird on her head was the first to take off, followed shortly after by the one on her finger. A gently wind came through the window, causing Kaori's hair to flicker behind her as she watched the birds fly off into the distance. Kaori grabbed the two panels and closed the window, letting out a sigh and turning around to lean on the edge of the window sill. "I need to get stronger... Strong enough to change the world." she said under her breath before walking towards the bathroom.
Post shower, Kaori had grabbed her mask and donned it but left the rest of her equipment in the room. She wasn't heading out for any missions today since she'd been traveling all over as of late. Today, Kaori decided she'd simply take a day off to explore her immediate surroundings. Kaori had heard rumors of there being trouble in the city on the eastern sea, and had seen notices in the castle but hadn't paid them any mind. She didn't consider herself part of the mage clan that owned the large structure, so she had no obligations to assisting them in their duty to help the people who lived in their city. This was changed ever so often when Kaori spotted something happening before her very eyes, since she had a bit of a hero complex about her. The issue was that Kaori personally believed that if anyone was going to get hurt trying to do something good, it was going to be her. If anyone would bear the burden of killing people off, it was going to be her. If someone had to fight the strongest enemy and die, providing enough time for the rest of the group to escape or kill the enemy... it would most definitely be her. She had no wavering in that mentality, and no force in any world, high or other wise, could stop that.
Kaori decided to visit the port. She liked the idea of traveling and seeing new places, meeting new people, and learning things she'd never knew she didn't know. There was a ship at the port that was largely destroyed, so it was never allowed to leave the port for safety reasons. She'd never seen anyone on it, so she figured it was abandoned. It was at the highest point of the ship, the main mast that Kaori decided to sit. It was a strange, bucket like structure at the top that she thought might have been used to collect water during rain. Her reasoning for assuming that was that since it was so high up, waves wouldn't be able to get in it so the water was more likely to stay pure. Sitting on the rim of the bucket, she looked over the wreckage itself for what very well may have been the first time.
The ship was massive, or at least, what remained of it made Kaori assume so. She could tell that what she saw was only half of the ship, but even still the remaining portion was twice the size of most the ships in port. The sides of the deck were blown away, reduced to splinters and burn marks dotted the ship from where whatever, or whoever tried to raze it to the ground. Blood was all over what remained of the deck and Kaori could feel the history around it. The enemy was another ship, something even larger with more weapons, bigger weapons, and faster firing weapons. The opponent was superior in every way, and the owner of the ship was nearly fearless. The captain wasn't a pirate, the quality of the undamaged portions of the ship was too good for piracy. It was polished, a pirate ship normally had very dull wood.
"These people..." Kaori said in a hushed tone. The words caused her to remember what she'd said to her friend back when she killed a group of scientists. Her mind drifted back to the gently glow, and warm embrace of a campfire as she said to the rather depressing man 'You people... the people from the village by the sea. They're afraid of death, afraid to kill unless necessary. You're raised with the notion that you require an armed enemy to justify murder. You all learn such powerful attacks, and fear using them because of that power. My clan isn't like that. Where I'm from, people who live that way don't live for long. We're never afraid to die, because when we do finally die, we go to meet our clan in the afterlife. We're never afraid to kill, because it only means we send our enemies to be with their family. We don't need an enemy to have a physical weapon, we only need a reason for them to be our enemy. While we don't hate them, we will kill them; and, if we do hate them, we wish them peace in their grave. We hone our skills, learn to kill as art, shower the battlefield in crimson paint, and hone our skills further for the glory of our lord... and the promise that our enemies won't do the same to us. The reason I killed those men wasn't because they were armed, or a threat to my physical well being. No, there was two reasons. The first is that they had no consideration for nature. Had I let them live, even one of them, they would have started fresh. They would have acquired more living creatures, and just like before, they would have caged them up, separated them from their kind, and performed more tests. Then, more of us... more people who weren't involved in their creation would have to get involved and murder creatures that did nothing to warrant killing beyond being born. I killed those men to save the hundreds of animals, and possibly humans that would have become nothing more than test subjects.'
Kaori's day dreaming was broken by the sound of a fairly deep voice calling out to her. "Oi!" it echoed. "Mind tellin' me what you're doing on my ship!?" the man asked shortly after. His voice didn't carry any anger, just curiosity. Kaori blinked a few times at the notion of the wreckage belonging to someone, or rather, someone still claiming the title of captain. "You deaf on top of being creepy?" he called after ten seconds of awkward silence. Kaori vanished, reappearing in front the man. He was huge, easily 6 and a half feet with dark red hair and a bit of a stubble. His waist had bandages around it, as though he were injured. Though, Kaori was more inclined to believe he was on account of his metallic arm. His skin was tan for the most part, Kaori had the feeling that under his shirt was a considerably lighter color. The man put on a grimace and tapped on Kaori's mask, shocking her right out of her state of examination. "You okay.... uh... miss?" he asked, his voice filled with genuine concern for Kaori's well being. "I'm fine, thank your for asking." Kaori replied, her tone considerably less strange than the man expected. She sounded kind, and had a gentle voice that was muffled slightly by her mask. But the mellow tone helped the blatantly older man to relax his nerves just a bit, the fact that Kaori was unarmed helped even more.
"My name's Kaori, and I'm sorry for trespassing ferryman. I hadn't known this ship still belonged to someone." Kaori said not long after, establishing that she did have some form of respect for other people's property. "I guess that's fair... She used to look damn beautiful before, well... this." the captain said, gesturing to the wrecked vessel at the end of his statement. "May I ask why your ship looks like this way, ferryman? It's obvious that there was a battle that took place, but I'd like greater detail if you're alright to share." Kaori inquired of the man. She made sure to mention at the end that she had some form of concern for his emotional well being, even though she didn't really. It was a good tactic for coaxing people who might be suffering to give information they might be otherwise unwilling to give without being put in more suffering. "Sure... but first, why're you callin' me 'ferryman' kid?" he asked, to which Kaori replied with "Because you never gave me anything else to call you. It's to my knowledge that ships are used to transport people across bodies of water. The equivalent where I'm from is a ferryman. So that's what I call you. Why did you call me a baby goat just now?" The captain looked at Kaori with a strange expression that was part understanding, and part confusion. "Call me captain... and kid's a word some people use when talking to younger people. It's not really limited to just baby goats, at least, not everywhere."
Kaori nodded to the man, acknowledging his name of preference. While he was a sailor, he seemed to be more articulate than others. He didn't speak with any rasp in his voice, and his overall demeanor wasn't overbearing. If anything, he seemed like a normal person to Kaori. Well, once you looked past the metal arm and massive height that is. "So what happened to your ship, Captain?" she asked impatiently, her curiosity seeping through her every word. "Ugh... it's a long story kid... Let's find a place to sit, I'll tell you then." he said in an exasperated tone. "There's a small place in town that's really nice. It's not normally crowded since it doesn't aesthetically look like much, and the food's really good." Kaori offered. She was referring to a small, house looking restaurant a mile or two away that First Mate Carver took her to as a show of gratitude for saving him from some muggers. At the time, Kaori didn't know that he was a mage so she also didn't know that he wasn't actually the most masculine damsel in distress on this side of the universe. The captain looked at Kaori with a half distrustful look. He didn't like that he couldn't see her eyes, and he didn't like how relaxed she was about taking a stranger to a place he didn't know. But the mask was the main cause of the distrust. The only reason he agreed to it was because he figured restaurants were normally crowded, even small ones, especially if the food was good. The honest sincerity in her voice plays no part in swaying his opinions.
The two of them walked through the village on the eastern sea with Kaori walking in front him. In spite of the fact that Kaori had been interrupted earlier, she had a gentle smile on her face while leading her new friend to her favorite spot. It was her day off, and Kaori loved it when her plans got rerouted so long as it didn't have a negative impact. When they arrived, Kaori had stopped at a rather small, unimpressive looking building. It wasn't run down or anything, in fact it was in rather decent condition. The building was the size of one of the houses from the coast, and had normal sized windows to match. The ones around it had nothing less impressive than the largest windows, and dazzling ornaments all over- as well as tons of people within. This one, from what the Captain could see through the clear glass panels, was somewhat vacant. "Don't let it's modest state fool you, this is the best place in port. The food's just like home." Kaori said with a passionate tone that was accompanied by a slight smile under her mask. "I wasn't lookin down on it, just didn't think you were serious when you said it was small." the Captain stated in a kind voice, gesturing to the door.
Kaori turned from facing the Captain and continued to the building. The Captain looked it over once more, noting the humble design choices. It was made of logs on the bottom, arranged vertically but stopping after a couple feet. On top the logs was a solid sheet of stone wall that he could only imagine was a fairly thin. Entering the building revealed hard wood floors much like the ones on a ship's deck, which helped the lonely captain feel more at home. The walls were a slightly yellow color with sconces on them. Pictures of people the Captain didn't know at all hung on the walls. There was a counter in the far end of the room with bottles of amber, clear, and unnaturally colored alcoholic drinks on a set of shelves behind it. The room contained very few people all gathered in a single group, all speaking to each other while drinking to their heart's content. They were all happy, smiling widely with friendly expressions that countered some of their large appearances. "It's a pretty nice place. I like it.." the Captain said with a relaxed smile on his face. His voice was sincere, and inside, he felt glad that he followed Kaori this far and most the distrust he felt towards her had began to fad. It didn't go away, just got a bit less... 'there' than it was before.
After taking a seat, a woman walked from a door behind the counter that lead to the kitchen. She had two cups seated on plates with a tea cup on a tray, all held in one hand. When she arrived at the table Kaori and the Captain were sitting at, she set cups down in front of them and poured them some tea and set the pot in the middle. "It's a pleasure to see you again Lady Lareci, will you be having your usual order or would you like a menu?" she said respectfully while holding the tray flat against her legs, a warm smile on her face. Kaori liked her a lot, she was old but you'd never know it. To be exact, the woman was in her mid eighties. While she was old enough to be her great grandmother, her skin was extremely smooth with not a single wrinkle to be seen. Her eyes were youthful, warm, and very alive. Her nails were a light shade of peach, and very smooth looking. She didn't have baggy skin, in fact it was firm and her bust was no different. She maintained a figure that Kaori almost envied, and her hair was a gorgeous shade of violet; and it was silky smooth. The woman looked like she was in her twenties, and Kaori desperately wanted to know her secret. "I'll take a menu please, thank you. You don't have to call me 'lady' you know? Kaori is just fine, really." the masked ninja replied humbly. It had been years since she was 'Lady Lareci' and frankly, she didn't like the name. "Lady Lareci?" the Captain asked with a moderately confused look. "I'm nobility, I own the restaurant and a sizable amount of land in Midi." Kaori replied truthfully. "But I don't identify as a noble. I like being treated like everyone else, so I keep fancy jewelry and opulent things to a minimum. Um... please don't think any differently of me mister Captain." she added, her tone respectful, calm, and gentle as always. "S- sure." the Captain replied, a bit thrown off why someone would want to live as a normal person. He had always lived his life on the seas, working for his living and trying to make ends meat. He personally would've loved to be able to snap his fingers and have someone drop a gold brick in his hand, then throw it out a window calling it pocket change like Kaori could. Though, he knew that things were probably different on the other side of the fence.
The woman bowed to Kaori and her guest respectfully, walking away for a brief moment before returning with a pair of menus. "Please let me know when you're ready to order." she said in her youthful, soft voice before walking away to the kitchen again. The Captain looked at her, staring at her figure and began saying "You don't think I might be able to-" "She's easily four times my age at the youngest." Kaori interrupted him in a blunt, cold tone. Behind her porcelain and steel, cat-shaped mask her eyes were bored looking and glazed over. "Th-that's... that's-" "Probably magic at it's finest. She won't teach me the spell for some reason. Anyhow, about your ship." Kaori interrupted again and brought the Captain back to the point of this whole meeting. "Right. I guess I should start with what I do... well, did for a living. The king had set out an order for their officials to hire a bunch of people to help reduce the amount of pirates, and slavers roaming about. The reason wasn't so noble as to bring peace to the seas. He noticed that his crew kept getting attacked, and anyone who wasn't killed off was taken in as a member of the slavers' crew. Those new members returned to him as alleged sole survivors and worked under his fleets as a spy. After realizing they were relaying military plans, formations, and orders to their captors the king decided that it was time to end it. Essentially, he put an instant execution order on all slavers and that's were I came in."
The conversation paused as Kaori held her hand up to signal to the waitress that she was ready to order. The Captain ordered a steak with a baked potato, and Kaori ordered a gyro, lamb with onions and a cucumber based sauce inside of a pita bread that was toasted. The waitress smiled and told them she'd get the order started right away and went off to the kitchen. "Back to what I was saying..." the Captain said. "I already had a ship, so I was the first pick for the job. It was a tiny one compared to most slaver and pirate ships, but it was damn fast and my crew had three cannons. The first one fired, the second was reloading, and the third was always ready to switch with the first. Well, she got sunk after the first trip. We got set out on a mission to take out a ship four times ours, with way more cannons. Since it was our commissioners fault for sending us after something that was too dangerous without telling us the exact dangers, they replaced our little ship with that monster you saw back there. What's back at the docks is only the back end of her, the rest is underwater. When it wasn't a heaping pile of scrap, the ship had sixty cannons. Ten on each side of the deck, and twenty on each side below. Had a crew of over a hundred so everyone worked in shifts. It was nice to have no one on board suffering from sleep deprivation, and everyone happier than hell to be there. I'll miss em all..."
Kaori's eyes widened at the mention of missing the crew. She realized something... the Captain was all that remained. She didn't show any signs of being shocked, but deep down she felt for him. "Came across a ship that was built to take down other ships. It was bigger, faster, and had better guns. I spent five years at sea with my crew, and god damn it I wish I could spend another twenty. They were a bunch of characters, some of em didn't even belong on a combat ship but they did their jobs as best they could. I kept em because they were family; wouldn't have traded them for all the badass rough-neck vets in the world." "Are they still out there?" Kaori asked with an interested tone about her. The Captain couldn't help but shudder from the shock of the question. It wasn't the question itself, but the way Kaori had asked it. She sounded as though she were going to try and go after them for revenge. The Captain said solemnly "Yeah. I sailed what was left of my ship and crew back to port, but no one survived the trip... I barely survived."
The Captain could feel Kaori staring him down. He could feel the intent in her gaze even though he couldn't see her face. "Why haven't you gone back to kill them?" Kaori asked, the conversation becoming less light hearted. "I don't have a crew. I don't have a ship. I don't have money for it. What little I've got left I use to stay alive." he replied, Kaori sensing the guilt in his voice. "What if you did? Would you go back?" Kaori asked while tapping her index finger on the table. "Yes." the Captain replied without hesitation, the tone of his voice told Kaori he was serious. It was then that a massive monster of a man walked over. He had fur on his back, and massive horns shooting out from under it. Just one of him could have made five or six of Kaori, and have enough room for her friend Mits and Serenzo. "My friends call me Mammoth." he said with a voice so deep Kaori needed a spare boat for her ears. "Sorry for eaves dropping, but it sounded like you're both planning to take down something big. I've been lookin' for a good fight." he said, meanwhile Kaori felt her heart stop at the sight of the monstrous man. She heard every word he said, and shook her head while bringing herself back to reality. She turned to face the captain and spoke with a smug voice "So cappy, whadda you say? You got a crew started, and I've got enough pull to get you a ship." "I... I'll get a crew going." the Captain said in disbelief. He knew it'd take all his money, and he'd live on the streets afterwards if he didn't die, but he had a glimmer of hope now and he was willing to bet everything on it for just one last chance.
Kaori took the gyro to go, the waitress waving the bill for her an the Captain. Kaori insisted she paid, but her hostess wouldn't accept Kaori's money. The Captain remained to finish his steak, and talk with 'Mammoth' a bit more. He wanted to learn the new person's strengths and weaknesses, so he figured it best to talk to him. Kaori had an idea of someone who she could talk to that was supposedly a good fighter. What she did know for a fact was that she had experience in being on a ship, and could work with a team. She went to the local prison and visited the first person she put in there, Scarlet. She was nothing more than a torso and head at the moment, but Kaori could change that if she was willing to pay the right price. "Hey guard person, I'm looking for a limbless vegetable with red hair and a nasty attitude." Kaori said jokingly to the man who instantly knew who she was referring to. "She's round the corner in the back. Ain't had sunlight ina while so she's wiltin' a bit." he replied, joking himself. As soon as Kaori stepped in front the cell doors, she looked at Scarlet as she leaned against the wall. Her skin was pale compared to before. "Wow, you look like shit." Kaori commented. "Still better looking than you. So what you want? Come to take my head? Be my guest." she replied, not bothering to even look at Kaori. "Actually I can to make you an offer." Kaori said with a friendly tone while crossing her arms below her chest. Scarlet turned and looked Kaori in the mask. It was impossible to make a bad offer for Scarlet, she was in prison with no arms and legs being forced to stay alive on IV treatments; nothing was worse. "I need a crew for a high risk, low survival chance mission. You've got experience, so I figured I'd ask." Kaori said with a business like tone. "Sure... I'll bite the ankles of anyone who doesn't follow my orders." Scarlet replied sarcastically. "Or you use your old arms and legs to man a gun." Kaori replied smugly. Scarlet's eyes became hopeful and she felt her heart skip a beat. "What do you say? Going out on the seas again with a new ship, new crew, old limbs, and all you need to do is pledge your life to my service." Kaori said, looking down at Scarlet through the slits in her mask. "To hell with it, fine." she replied. Whatever Kaori had in mind had two outcomes, either Scarlet dies or she gets out of prison; both options seemed good enough. "Great, I'll make the arrangements." Kaori said and began walking away from the cell.
While passing another cell, Kaori heard a male voice calling to her. "Hey lady..." he said, calling Kaori to his attention. Kaori turned to look at an empty cell, or so she thought. "You want a loyal crew mate, take me with ya." he said, stepping out of the shadow and into the light. Kaori took a step back, a look of fear on her face at the rotting flesh, exposed jaw bone, and overall sight of the zombie that was talking to her. "What's the matter? Ya look like you've seen a ghost. No need to get cold skin, I'm not that ugly." he said jokingly, trying to break the tension. "Y-you're... you're dead." Kaori said in a hesitant voice. "Holy shit! I am? No one told me that, I just thought I spent the last two centuries in here cause I was healthy as a horse." the zombie replied. "The smart asses name is Jediniah. He's in for necromancy." Scarlet's voice called from the other cell. "What're you good at?" Kaori asked, seriously considering taking him in. "I can fight. I'm good at navigating too. If you need a guy who can get shot and not die, I'm good at that too. Hell, if ya just need a hand I can rip one of mine off for ya." the man replied, tossing another award winning joke out there. "I'll make the arrangements." Kaori said and left, not wanting to hear more jokes.
Kaori had also sent out a message to some people she knew back in Midi. They were good at keeping quiet about things, so her location was safe. It took a week, give or take a few days, but after that wait there was a massive ship waiting for them. It was almost new, and Kaori could see if from her room in the castle. It was so large it couldn't be left in port, hell it couldn't fit in port. Kaori grabbed her sword, bow, and some arrows and got ready for the fight ahead. She made her way to the docks and took a boat ride out to the massive ship her friend gave her. The cannons on it were new, and big. She inspected a few places on the ship and marveled at it. Her friend had come through for her in ways she'd never expected. On the table in the captain's quarters was a note with a bright red ribbon around it and the seal of the crimson hare. Upon opening it, Kaori noticed that it was from her friend. 'Kay, it's been a long time since we've seen you. We heard about what happened to the Lareci clan, and my father sent his armies immediately. I was at its lead but when we got there... everything was gone. Why haven't you written to me until now? What have you been doing all this time!? Why didn't you come to us, you know we would have taken you in! I won't tell anyone about this, but I need to know what's been going on. If you're doing something that requires a war ship, I'll give you the best I've got; but if you're fighting a way then I want to fight it with you. We're friends, we've always been friends... so I'll never abandon you.~Kita Shizumi'
Soon the crew started piling on the ship and Kaori heard their footsteps as they hopped over the railings. She walked out to the deck and saw a few old faces, namely Carver, Scarlet's old man, and the rest of her crew. Kaori walked up to them and asked "What are you guys doing here?" with joy and surprise. "Well, scarlet walked up to my prison cell over in Era and made me shit a brick. Then she made me shit another one when she said she was helping you. I couldn't let you both sail into hell, so I came along... free of charge." Carver replied with a brave tone. "Tis a cole day in 'ell wen I let meh brotha's kid sail alone. 'Course I came along." the old man replied, crossing his massive arms and smiling. It took hell and a handbasket to do it, but Scarlet was finally on a good path. "It didn't take much convincing to get the rest of my men back, I just told them I'm gonna go take down some slavers and make things right and they volunteered. Isn't that right men!?" Scarlet said, all her old crew replying with a loud and battle ready 'Aye, Sir!' while raising their fists in the air. "Common, how the hell can I rest in peace with all this damn noise!?" Jediniah called as he walked through the door to the crew quarters.
More people filed in, including Mammoth, the Captain, and... some girl. Kaori looked at the girl who boarded the ship and approached her with a threatening demeanor. "Who the hell'r you?" she asked with a low tone. "I- I- I- I- I'm Ch-Char-Char-Charlotte m-miss! It's n-nice to meat you!" she shouted with gusto and bowed to Kaori. "You're too sweet. Get lost." Kaori replied coldly before turning away. "Actually I invited her along." Mammoth said and rested his pinky on her shoulder, because the rest of his hand would have clobbered her. Kaori paused, turning around and raising an eyebrow. "She's good at navigating. She can switch places with someone for a night shift. She's also my little sister... Please let her stay." he followed up, looking at Kaori with hopeful eyes. Kaori looked to the Captain, and he looked at her, then at the girl. "You'll be in the kitchen with the chef. Room with Mammoth, and welcome aboard." he said while giving her a thumbs up. "Stay below deck when the fighting starts." Kaori said and walked off to the belly of the ship. Charlotte's cheeks grew bright pink and her eyes lit up as a smile shot across her face. "Th-thank you Sir!" she shouted and immediately began running towards where the kitchen was supposed to be. The door was already open, and she turned back to wave to Mammoth before smacking her face in the door frame. "Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow!" she squeaked out while holding her forehead. The crew looked at Mammoth who didn't look particularly worried and all assumed she had done that before.
Kaori had spent several days in the belly meditating. Charlotte had brought her food, and water so she wouldn't starve. The crew had all been hard at work, learning the ship and going to the last known coordinates of their target. Just before the battle a stoic, solemn voice came across the winds carrying a semblance to Kaori's deceased master with it... 'I've known you a long time child, but I still don't know you. You're small, frail, and weak; but your heart is large, powerful, and strong. You'll make a fine leader one day; but for now, sleep and dream of the universe. Reject this world and all of its' cruel realities...'
The voice faded from Kaori's mind as she looked out over the rails at the bow of a large ship. It was the voice of her master, the man who taught Kaori everything she knew about everything she could do. He taught her to fight, to kill, to surrender, and to love. He made her more than just another ninja; he made her a leader. The seas had appeared so calm today, but she knew that this serenity wouldn't last. She was in the eye of the storm, and the walls were closing in fast. The captain had chosen this morning specifically to engage his foes. It was the day that he'd lost his previous crew, and as a vow to their vengeance, he swore that he would bring down the marauders that killed them.
The masked ninja turned her head to face the captain on the bow of the ship, the large man standing with focused orbs towards the horizon. He was strong, twice the leader Kaori was and she could feel it. His strength radiated from him, and the mage could feel that strength permeating the entire ship and filling her and the rest of the crew. With his metal arm, the captain grabbed the wheel and began turning it to let the ships' cannons face the direction their enemy was coming from. "All hands on deck!" he shouted, his voice booming across the deck of the ship and down into the cargo bay. Voices came from the cargo bay reiterating the captain's orders, and all members of the crew began flocking to the top of the vessel. Kaori vanished, reappearing next to the captain with her arms crossed.
"Today we take on an enemy that's already killed one of my crew, don't underestimate them! This will be my last attempt at victory. I've spent everything I had on this ship, supplies, you lot, and this..." The captain rested his massive hand on Kaori's shoulder. "A small package, but from what I've heard a valuable asset. She'll be out ticket to victory, and I'll let her introduce herself." The captain took his hand from his shoulder and gave Kaori a gentle smile while taking a few steps back. Kaori stepped forward, the curious crew finally getting to know why there was someone on the ship that wasn't doing work. "Name's Kaori Lareci, the last remaining member of the Lareci clan, as well as the most powerful. My presence here is for doing two things, and two things alone; Getting on the enemy ship, and killing everyone. Your job is to keep firing, even if you hit me!" She announced, the crews' eye getting wide at the last announcement. "B-but you'll die!" one of the men protested. "I'll get better." she replied in a grim tone. "Assassins don't die, we just go to hell for a nap. Let that be a notice to anyone who dares try and aim for me." The captain stepped forward again and Kaori stepped back. "Right! You have your orders, get to your stations!" The captain announced and each man and woman began moving.
Kaori took her place at the top of the main mast, above the crow's nest. With a stern expression, she looked over the horizon and waited for their enemy to arrive. Her reason for being here, for taking this job in particular was that she knew what it was like to be the last 'man' standing. She was the last man standing out of a clan of over ten thousand, and she'll be damned if she let it happen to someone else. This captain would find a new clan with this group he hired, and if he was taking them to battle then Kaori would make sure they don't fail. The captain didn't lose a battle, he won motivation. Just as the sails of the marauder ship came on the horizon, Kaori looked at the captain who nodded in acknowledgement to her. He raised his right hand and shouted "Ready the cannons!" with passion. The twenty seven cannons on the left flank of their ship got ready to fire, and as the opposing ship came in range with their cannons ready, the captain lowered his hand and they opened fire.
The front of the enemy ship was destroyed, but they kept charging in. Kaori grabbed the mast in preparation for what was to come, and the crew took shelter on the opposing side of the ship. The marauders rammed them, knowing that there was no chance to defeat new cannons with longer range, they rammed the ship before the crew could reload. "Change of plans, board the enemy ship!" the captain shouted, and unsurprisingly, the enemy had the same idea. Men from the deck of the ship began pouring in to meet Kaori's allies in bladed battle, and Kaori began looking around for a good target. A man shot across the bow of his ship and onto Kaori's, meeting her captain and trying to kill him in one shot. The captain had drew his sword to block the other captain's, staring him in the eye with a vengeful glare.
Kaori vanished from her spot and took down one of the enemy grunts by sending her sword through their skull. She began repeating the action, but it seemed for every one man she killed another came to replace them. She was trying to reduce the size of their crew to ensure that hers' survived. Those were the captains orders to her, make sure that everyone else lives even if he or she dies. The captain received no assistance as he clashed with the opposing captain. The deck was in frenzy, and the opposing crew was putting too much pressure on them for anyone to get to the captain's deck and provide support. Suddenly, after several minutes of clashing blades, the opposition began rejoicing out of nowhere and battle came to a halt. Kaori looked across the deck while kicking a man off her blade who was smiling for some reason, and saw it... Their captain had lost. A blade stuck from his stomach as he slumped over on his knees in defeat.
Without a leader, the crew didn't know what to do. They looked to each other in confusion, and soon their weapons lowered. The opposing captain began laughing and turned to Kaori and the rest of the crew, shouting taunts and cursing the name of their now dead captain. The seas became angry at this sight, and it began to stir. The captain began to rise slowly, grabbing the blade in his stomach while a blue marking began appearing on his arms. He withdrew the sword and while the opposing captain was laughing arrogantly with his back to him, he inserted the blade into his back. "Thank you..." the captain said, not seeming to speak to anyone of this world. His eyes, formerly an amber color, had become blue as the seas themself and a similarly colored aura took over his body. "Kill them all!" he boomed to his crew, and the men, not questioning the order but rather being grateful to still have an employer, resumed their attack. The captain became surrounded by small jets of water that circled him and he began walking forward. As enemies came close to him, the water jets shot out and impaled them, killing them and dropping their bodies to the floor. He stopped at the middle of the place where the two ships were connected and stared at the enemy ship. "I'll send you to be a slave to my crew." he said to the ship. He spread his feet apart to distribute his weight and lifted his hands. He positioned himself like a man preparing to punch, and then when he did, a massive wave shot from under the enemy ship and cut it in half. The sound of battle stopped for the second time, and without a captain to lead them, without a ship to take refuge in, the enemies all dropped their weapons. Jets of water shot out from the sea and grabbed each of them. The captain didn't take prisoners, at least, not today he didn't. And the seas claimed each marauder, dragging them under with their ship.
The crew mourned over their lost members, and set them all in the cargo hold while they returned to port. Kaori had went to address the captain, to ask if he was alright. When she arrived, there was a note and a golden key with a strange symbol at the base on top it. "Take my crew, and my ship. I'm no longer the captain... I've formed a pact with the Celestial King. He gave me a second chance, but at the cost of having to become a Celestial Spirit. My name is Aquarius, and this key is my own. Take it, and whenever you need a friend use it to summon me. We've avenged my crew, so I owe you this much." Kaori put the key in her tool belt and went to notify the rest of the crew, who all needed some educating on celestial spirits and a crash course in magic logic, but they eventually got it. The ship was beyond repair, so it was sold for scrap upon returning to port and the crew had stayed in Hargeon to await their next grand adventure.
A day or two later, there was someone at Kaori's bedroom door saying that she had visitors. Kaori went to go see who it was, hoping that it wasn't her friend deciding to visit. Much to her surprise, it was Mammoth and Charlotte who had come to visit her. Even more to her surprise, Scarlet was there too. What surprised Kaori the most was when Scarlet grabbed her by the shoulder and smiled, just before saying "Yoink!" and a bright flash. Moments later, exactly two seconds later to be exact, she was in a place surrounded by stars. "So... something I didn't mention..." Mammoth began, causing Kaori to look at him and resist punching Scarlet in the throat. "...My sister and I are both Celestial spirits." he said, warranting a puzzled expression from Kaori. Scarlet raised one of her hands and said "I also got in touch with Iron Fist and made the same deal as him... so I'm one too." with an awkward tone. "I'm already damned to live for eternity, so I decided to join in the party." the voice of Jediniah the zombie pirate said from behind Kaori.
"Okay... congratulations. Can I go back to sleep now?" Kaori replied, thinking she might still be in a dream. The four spirits around her had all put on underwhelmed expressions at her response, honestly thinking she might be shocked by it. "You're... not surprised at all?" Mammoth asked in a curios tone. "Mammy... I live in a castle with floating books that have people that literally jump out the pages. I've fought zombie dragons, with a zombie monkey on my shoulder. I've fought a pirate army with a pirate zombie, and a woman who lost her limbs a couple months prior. Furthermore, you tried this shit exactly five minutes after waking me up and expect me to be capable of provisioning an emotional reaction. No, I'm not surprised." Kaori said in a tired, slightly annoyed tone. Mammoth shrugged, and Charlotte continued hiding behind her big brother since Kaori scared her just a bit. "Anyhow..." the Captain's voice echoed as he appeared in a cloud of golden mist. "We need to get you used to summoning us. You still have my key right?"
Kaori vanished and reappeared, kicking Aquarius in the face. "NO I DON'T HAVE YOUR DAMN KEY, YOU WOKE ME THE FUCK UP AND DIDN'T GIVE ME ANY TIME TO GET THE DAMN THING!" she shouted. Charlotte began shaking and hiding behind Mammoth even more for fear she was next to board the pain train. Meanwhile, Mammoth, Jed, and Scarlet all had shadows cast over their eyes and a sense of unease at the sight. It took a minute or two, but eventually the Captain got off the ground and straightened his jaw out. "Right, I'll let you borrow this one." he said and tossed Kaori another one of his keys. Kaori caught it but was getting ready to go in for another high speed kick at the fact that she still wanted to go back to sleep. "Hey speed demon." Scarlet called, causing Kaori to flash her attention back to her. Kaori saw something shiny coming at her and instinctively caught it. She looked at the item and it was a black key with a picture of a gun on it. "That one's mine, don't lose it okay?" Scarlet teased with a smirk on her face. Jed walked over and set his down in her hand, and soon after Mammoth did the same. Charlotte was shaking when she put hers in Kaori's hand, but Kaori took it gently. "What's up with this?" Kaori asked in a much less angry tone than before. "You're the captain now. Can't have you gettin slaughtered now can we?" the Captain said with a friendly tone and smile to match. "So, we done screwin' around here or are we gonna keep our thumbs in our asses?" Scarlet asked impatiently.
Kaori had agreed to let them train her since she did like them all, even if they woke her up at the worst time. That, and she needed to get stronger. Kaori wanted to be strong enough to defend the guild if she needed to, and furthermore, she needed to get strong enough to kill Saia when the time came for their rematch. Recently, Saia had gotten more members for his clan. They were also mages, and it seemed they were stronger mages than before. Kaori needed to get on their level and surpass them so she could kill them all, and their leader soon after. The place they had trained together in was a large colosseum type structure. The only real difference was that it wasn't decaying, the floors were made of white stone instead of sand, there weren't any pissed off animals involved, no one died, and there wasn't a massive crowed with a douche lord in a box waiting for people to get killed. Other than those things, it was exactly like a colosseum.
Aquarius had only stuck around to watch Kaori train to use the other celestials since he was a fairly self sufficient fighter. She needed to learn to stay out of the way of Scarlet's guns when they were fighting together. As the only ranged spirit in the set, Scarlet wanted to train with Kaori the most. Mammoth served as their opponent so Kaori could get used to his movements as well. He was a big target, but he was able to take hits. Mammoth was slow, and his attacks were powerful. From fighting against him, Kaori was able to find out that his main weakness was his lack of speed. He relied on having someone to distract his opponent and create openings, so he needed someone who was fast. Then, when he saw an opening he went in for a very hard hitting attack. At the same time, Scarlet was a more mobile fighter than Kaori gave her credit for. She moved around and made openings by shooting her targets. Several times, she'd used a strange chain type attack to lock Mammoth in place to make an opening for Kaori to attack. But Mammoth had countered by breaking the chain, which reduced teh amount of times Kaori could attack.
The next spirit she fought was Jediniah, who had insisted that she called him Jed since it was short. Even though he was a zombie, he was fast with his swords and hit hard. This had made Kaori question just how weak and vulnerable zombies were, but Jed had told Kaori that he was also a mage so he was able to bolster himself with his magic to overcome the problems of being dead. It was the reason he was arrested since the guards and judge had both considered a zombie using magic, as practicing necromancy. The real lesson for Kaori began when Charlotte had came in, since Kaori had never actually wanted to fight her. Any time Kaori got past Mammoth and tried attacking, she realized that her sword went right through Charlotte and the girl never tried to block. Each of them had their own special attributes, and Kaori had to learn them all. What she didn't know was that while she was fighting, Scarlet was replenishing the mana that Kaori used up and channeling it back to her so she could keep going. This helped to increase Kaori's stamina since her body had become more accustom to using magic. Scarlet even noticed how she needed to recycle less mana towards the end of the training then she did at the beginning, but she never told Kaori that. When Kaori returned home, she was returned to her room at night time
9,053/9,000
It was a memory she detested that came back to her and greeted Kaori every morning. She had enemies closing in on her, and taunted the female one to trick her into attacking. Afterwards, Kaori ran and jumped off the left side of the bridge connecting the city on the eastern sea and the magic clans' castle. A shadow clone was used as a distraction while Kaori appeared behind their male friend. The female enemy and their leader were both fooled pretty good. The woman leaned over the edge, fully convinced Kaori killed herself while holding an ice sword with a scowl on her face, the leader looked as well to see if there was a corpse under the cloud of snow. The third subordinate, the male however was clutching his chest as his own sword protruded from it, dripping with blood. That was Kaori's need for the distraction, to make sure she took at least the subordinates to hell with her. The man fell to his knees, alerting the other two to turn to see Kaori with her bow out, drawing an arrow behind him. His body hit the floor and the girl subordinate, knowing who the arrow was coming for began moving to avoid it, but was too late when she caught it with her skull.
It was a memory she detested that came back to her and greeted Kaori every morning. She had enemies closing in on her, and taunted the female one to trick her into attacking. Afterwards, Kaori ran and jumped off the left side of the bridge connecting the city on the eastern sea and the magic clans' castle. A shadow clone was used as a distraction while Kaori appeared behind their male friend. The female enemy and their leader were both fooled pretty good. The woman leaned over the edge, fully convinced Kaori killed herself while holding an ice sword with a scowl on her face, the leader looked as well to see if there was a corpse under the cloud of snow. The third subordinate, the male however was clutching his chest as his own sword protruded from it, dripping with blood. That was Kaori's need for the distraction, to make sure she took at least the subordinates to hell with her. The man fell to his knees, alerting the other two to turn to see Kaori with her bow out, drawing an arrow behind him. His body hit the floor and the girl subordinate, knowing who the arrow was coming for began moving to avoid it, but was too late when she caught it with her skull.
Standing on a broken leg and gritting her teeth, her cat mask had been damaged so badly that the metal under the porcelain was showing. Saia held an orb of pure magic in his right hand and pointed it at Kaori. Kaori grabbed her shuriken and began throwing it up, the magic inside being released just as Saia fired a blast of magic at her. A brilliant light was released as the two collided, but Kaori's magic hadn't progressed far enough to resist Saia's and the barrier she'd made broke after several seconds of her focusing her hardest to maintain it. A loud cry of pain was released as Kaori was hit with the attack and send back, slamming into the castles' door where she took the rest of the attack. Her body giving off a type of magical smoke, Kaori fell to her knees before falling face-first in the snow with blood leaking from her broken leg, the bone protruding through the flesh. She tried to get up, but could barely move. After that... everything went dark. Kaori's last memory after that was waking up in a room with someone at her bedside explaining that she was lucky to be alive.
The other bird took flight and landed on Kaori's head, leaping while turning and looking around the room. With her free hand, Kaori pulled the sheets from over her legs and got out of bed to walk to the open window. "I can't play right now, but if you come back later I'll have something for you two okay?" she said, holding her finger out the window with the one bird on it. The bird on her head was the first to take off, followed shortly after by the one on her finger. A gently wind came through the window, causing Kaori's hair to flicker behind her as she watched the birds fly off into the distance. Kaori grabbed the two panels and closed the window, letting out a sigh and turning around to lean on the edge of the window sill. "I need to get stronger... Strong enough to change the world." she said under her breath before walking towards the bathroom.
Post shower, Kaori had grabbed her mask and donned it but left the rest of her equipment in the room. She wasn't heading out for any missions today since she'd been traveling all over as of late. Today, Kaori decided she'd simply take a day off to explore her immediate surroundings. Kaori had heard rumors of there being trouble in the city on the eastern sea, and had seen notices in the castle but hadn't paid them any mind. She didn't consider herself part of the mage clan that owned the large structure, so she had no obligations to assisting them in their duty to help the people who lived in their city. This was changed ever so often when Kaori spotted something happening before her very eyes, since she had a bit of a hero complex about her. The issue was that Kaori personally believed that if anyone was going to get hurt trying to do something good, it was going to be her. If anyone would bear the burden of killing people off, it was going to be her. If someone had to fight the strongest enemy and die, providing enough time for the rest of the group to escape or kill the enemy... it would most definitely be her. She had no wavering in that mentality, and no force in any world, high or other wise, could stop that.
Kaori decided to visit the port. She liked the idea of traveling and seeing new places, meeting new people, and learning things she'd never knew she didn't know. There was a ship at the port that was largely destroyed, so it was never allowed to leave the port for safety reasons. She'd never seen anyone on it, so she figured it was abandoned. It was at the highest point of the ship, the main mast that Kaori decided to sit. It was a strange, bucket like structure at the top that she thought might have been used to collect water during rain. Her reasoning for assuming that was that since it was so high up, waves wouldn't be able to get in it so the water was more likely to stay pure. Sitting on the rim of the bucket, she looked over the wreckage itself for what very well may have been the first time.
The ship was massive, or at least, what remained of it made Kaori assume so. She could tell that what she saw was only half of the ship, but even still the remaining portion was twice the size of most the ships in port. The sides of the deck were blown away, reduced to splinters and burn marks dotted the ship from where whatever, or whoever tried to raze it to the ground. Blood was all over what remained of the deck and Kaori could feel the history around it. The enemy was another ship, something even larger with more weapons, bigger weapons, and faster firing weapons. The opponent was superior in every way, and the owner of the ship was nearly fearless. The captain wasn't a pirate, the quality of the undamaged portions of the ship was too good for piracy. It was polished, a pirate ship normally had very dull wood.
"These people..." Kaori said in a hushed tone. The words caused her to remember what she'd said to her friend back when she killed a group of scientists. Her mind drifted back to the gently glow, and warm embrace of a campfire as she said to the rather depressing man 'You people... the people from the village by the sea. They're afraid of death, afraid to kill unless necessary. You're raised with the notion that you require an armed enemy to justify murder. You all learn such powerful attacks, and fear using them because of that power. My clan isn't like that. Where I'm from, people who live that way don't live for long. We're never afraid to die, because when we do finally die, we go to meet our clan in the afterlife. We're never afraid to kill, because it only means we send our enemies to be with their family. We don't need an enemy to have a physical weapon, we only need a reason for them to be our enemy. While we don't hate them, we will kill them; and, if we do hate them, we wish them peace in their grave. We hone our skills, learn to kill as art, shower the battlefield in crimson paint, and hone our skills further for the glory of our lord... and the promise that our enemies won't do the same to us. The reason I killed those men wasn't because they were armed, or a threat to my physical well being. No, there was two reasons. The first is that they had no consideration for nature. Had I let them live, even one of them, they would have started fresh. They would have acquired more living creatures, and just like before, they would have caged them up, separated them from their kind, and performed more tests. Then, more of us... more people who weren't involved in their creation would have to get involved and murder creatures that did nothing to warrant killing beyond being born. I killed those men to save the hundreds of animals, and possibly humans that would have become nothing more than test subjects.'
Kaori's day dreaming was broken by the sound of a fairly deep voice calling out to her. "Oi!" it echoed. "Mind tellin' me what you're doing on my ship!?" the man asked shortly after. His voice didn't carry any anger, just curiosity. Kaori blinked a few times at the notion of the wreckage belonging to someone, or rather, someone still claiming the title of captain. "You deaf on top of being creepy?" he called after ten seconds of awkward silence. Kaori vanished, reappearing in front the man. He was huge, easily 6 and a half feet with dark red hair and a bit of a stubble. His waist had bandages around it, as though he were injured. Though, Kaori was more inclined to believe he was on account of his metallic arm. His skin was tan for the most part, Kaori had the feeling that under his shirt was a considerably lighter color. The man put on a grimace and tapped on Kaori's mask, shocking her right out of her state of examination. "You okay.... uh... miss?" he asked, his voice filled with genuine concern for Kaori's well being. "I'm fine, thank your for asking." Kaori replied, her tone considerably less strange than the man expected. She sounded kind, and had a gentle voice that was muffled slightly by her mask. But the mellow tone helped the blatantly older man to relax his nerves just a bit, the fact that Kaori was unarmed helped even more.
"My name's Kaori, and I'm sorry for trespassing ferryman. I hadn't known this ship still belonged to someone." Kaori said not long after, establishing that she did have some form of respect for other people's property. "I guess that's fair... She used to look damn beautiful before, well... this." the captain said, gesturing to the wrecked vessel at the end of his statement. "May I ask why your ship looks like this way, ferryman? It's obvious that there was a battle that took place, but I'd like greater detail if you're alright to share." Kaori inquired of the man. She made sure to mention at the end that she had some form of concern for his emotional well being, even though she didn't really. It was a good tactic for coaxing people who might be suffering to give information they might be otherwise unwilling to give without being put in more suffering. "Sure... but first, why're you callin' me 'ferryman' kid?" he asked, to which Kaori replied with "Because you never gave me anything else to call you. It's to my knowledge that ships are used to transport people across bodies of water. The equivalent where I'm from is a ferryman. So that's what I call you. Why did you call me a baby goat just now?" The captain looked at Kaori with a strange expression that was part understanding, and part confusion. "Call me captain... and kid's a word some people use when talking to younger people. It's not really limited to just baby goats, at least, not everywhere."
Kaori nodded to the man, acknowledging his name of preference. While he was a sailor, he seemed to be more articulate than others. He didn't speak with any rasp in his voice, and his overall demeanor wasn't overbearing. If anything, he seemed like a normal person to Kaori. Well, once you looked past the metal arm and massive height that is. "So what happened to your ship, Captain?" she asked impatiently, her curiosity seeping through her every word. "Ugh... it's a long story kid... Let's find a place to sit, I'll tell you then." he said in an exasperated tone. "There's a small place in town that's really nice. It's not normally crowded since it doesn't aesthetically look like much, and the food's really good." Kaori offered. She was referring to a small, house looking restaurant a mile or two away that First Mate Carver took her to as a show of gratitude for saving him from some muggers. At the time, Kaori didn't know that he was a mage so she also didn't know that he wasn't actually the most masculine damsel in distress on this side of the universe. The captain looked at Kaori with a half distrustful look. He didn't like that he couldn't see her eyes, and he didn't like how relaxed she was about taking a stranger to a place he didn't know. But the mask was the main cause of the distrust. The only reason he agreed to it was because he figured restaurants were normally crowded, even small ones, especially if the food was good. The honest sincerity in her voice plays no part in swaying his opinions.
The two of them walked through the village on the eastern sea with Kaori walking in front him. In spite of the fact that Kaori had been interrupted earlier, she had a gentle smile on her face while leading her new friend to her favorite spot. It was her day off, and Kaori loved it when her plans got rerouted so long as it didn't have a negative impact. When they arrived, Kaori had stopped at a rather small, unimpressive looking building. It wasn't run down or anything, in fact it was in rather decent condition. The building was the size of one of the houses from the coast, and had normal sized windows to match. The ones around it had nothing less impressive than the largest windows, and dazzling ornaments all over- as well as tons of people within. This one, from what the Captain could see through the clear glass panels, was somewhat vacant. "Don't let it's modest state fool you, this is the best place in port. The food's just like home." Kaori said with a passionate tone that was accompanied by a slight smile under her mask. "I wasn't lookin down on it, just didn't think you were serious when you said it was small." the Captain stated in a kind voice, gesturing to the door.
Kaori turned from facing the Captain and continued to the building. The Captain looked it over once more, noting the humble design choices. It was made of logs on the bottom, arranged vertically but stopping after a couple feet. On top the logs was a solid sheet of stone wall that he could only imagine was a fairly thin. Entering the building revealed hard wood floors much like the ones on a ship's deck, which helped the lonely captain feel more at home. The walls were a slightly yellow color with sconces on them. Pictures of people the Captain didn't know at all hung on the walls. There was a counter in the far end of the room with bottles of amber, clear, and unnaturally colored alcoholic drinks on a set of shelves behind it. The room contained very few people all gathered in a single group, all speaking to each other while drinking to their heart's content. They were all happy, smiling widely with friendly expressions that countered some of their large appearances. "It's a pretty nice place. I like it.." the Captain said with a relaxed smile on his face. His voice was sincere, and inside, he felt glad that he followed Kaori this far and most the distrust he felt towards her had began to fad. It didn't go away, just got a bit less... 'there' than it was before.
After taking a seat, a woman walked from a door behind the counter that lead to the kitchen. She had two cups seated on plates with a tea cup on a tray, all held in one hand. When she arrived at the table Kaori and the Captain were sitting at, she set cups down in front of them and poured them some tea and set the pot in the middle. "It's a pleasure to see you again Lady Lareci, will you be having your usual order or would you like a menu?" she said respectfully while holding the tray flat against her legs, a warm smile on her face. Kaori liked her a lot, she was old but you'd never know it. To be exact, the woman was in her mid eighties. While she was old enough to be her great grandmother, her skin was extremely smooth with not a single wrinkle to be seen. Her eyes were youthful, warm, and very alive. Her nails were a light shade of peach, and very smooth looking. She didn't have baggy skin, in fact it was firm and her bust was no different. She maintained a figure that Kaori almost envied, and her hair was a gorgeous shade of violet; and it was silky smooth. The woman looked like she was in her twenties, and Kaori desperately wanted to know her secret. "I'll take a menu please, thank you. You don't have to call me 'lady' you know? Kaori is just fine, really." the masked ninja replied humbly. It had been years since she was 'Lady Lareci' and frankly, she didn't like the name. "Lady Lareci?" the Captain asked with a moderately confused look. "I'm nobility, I own the restaurant and a sizable amount of land in Midi." Kaori replied truthfully. "But I don't identify as a noble. I like being treated like everyone else, so I keep fancy jewelry and opulent things to a minimum. Um... please don't think any differently of me mister Captain." she added, her tone respectful, calm, and gentle as always. "S- sure." the Captain replied, a bit thrown off why someone would want to live as a normal person. He had always lived his life on the seas, working for his living and trying to make ends meat. He personally would've loved to be able to snap his fingers and have someone drop a gold brick in his hand, then throw it out a window calling it pocket change like Kaori could. Though, he knew that things were probably different on the other side of the fence.
The woman bowed to Kaori and her guest respectfully, walking away for a brief moment before returning with a pair of menus. "Please let me know when you're ready to order." she said in her youthful, soft voice before walking away to the kitchen again. The Captain looked at her, staring at her figure and began saying "You don't think I might be able to-" "She's easily four times my age at the youngest." Kaori interrupted him in a blunt, cold tone. Behind her porcelain and steel, cat-shaped mask her eyes were bored looking and glazed over. "Th-that's... that's-" "Probably magic at it's finest. She won't teach me the spell for some reason. Anyhow, about your ship." Kaori interrupted again and brought the Captain back to the point of this whole meeting. "Right. I guess I should start with what I do... well, did for a living. The king had set out an order for their officials to hire a bunch of people to help reduce the amount of pirates, and slavers roaming about. The reason wasn't so noble as to bring peace to the seas. He noticed that his crew kept getting attacked, and anyone who wasn't killed off was taken in as a member of the slavers' crew. Those new members returned to him as alleged sole survivors and worked under his fleets as a spy. After realizing they were relaying military plans, formations, and orders to their captors the king decided that it was time to end it. Essentially, he put an instant execution order on all slavers and that's were I came in."
The conversation paused as Kaori held her hand up to signal to the waitress that she was ready to order. The Captain ordered a steak with a baked potato, and Kaori ordered a gyro, lamb with onions and a cucumber based sauce inside of a pita bread that was toasted. The waitress smiled and told them she'd get the order started right away and went off to the kitchen. "Back to what I was saying..." the Captain said. "I already had a ship, so I was the first pick for the job. It was a tiny one compared to most slaver and pirate ships, but it was damn fast and my crew had three cannons. The first one fired, the second was reloading, and the third was always ready to switch with the first. Well, she got sunk after the first trip. We got set out on a mission to take out a ship four times ours, with way more cannons. Since it was our commissioners fault for sending us after something that was too dangerous without telling us the exact dangers, they replaced our little ship with that monster you saw back there. What's back at the docks is only the back end of her, the rest is underwater. When it wasn't a heaping pile of scrap, the ship had sixty cannons. Ten on each side of the deck, and twenty on each side below. Had a crew of over a hundred so everyone worked in shifts. It was nice to have no one on board suffering from sleep deprivation, and everyone happier than hell to be there. I'll miss em all..."
Kaori's eyes widened at the mention of missing the crew. She realized something... the Captain was all that remained. She didn't show any signs of being shocked, but deep down she felt for him. "Came across a ship that was built to take down other ships. It was bigger, faster, and had better guns. I spent five years at sea with my crew, and god damn it I wish I could spend another twenty. They were a bunch of characters, some of em didn't even belong on a combat ship but they did their jobs as best they could. I kept em because they were family; wouldn't have traded them for all the badass rough-neck vets in the world." "Are they still out there?" Kaori asked with an interested tone about her. The Captain couldn't help but shudder from the shock of the question. It wasn't the question itself, but the way Kaori had asked it. She sounded as though she were going to try and go after them for revenge. The Captain said solemnly "Yeah. I sailed what was left of my ship and crew back to port, but no one survived the trip... I barely survived."
The Captain could feel Kaori staring him down. He could feel the intent in her gaze even though he couldn't see her face. "Why haven't you gone back to kill them?" Kaori asked, the conversation becoming less light hearted. "I don't have a crew. I don't have a ship. I don't have money for it. What little I've got left I use to stay alive." he replied, Kaori sensing the guilt in his voice. "What if you did? Would you go back?" Kaori asked while tapping her index finger on the table. "Yes." the Captain replied without hesitation, the tone of his voice told Kaori he was serious. It was then that a massive monster of a man walked over. He had fur on his back, and massive horns shooting out from under it. Just one of him could have made five or six of Kaori, and have enough room for her friend Mits and Serenzo. "My friends call me Mammoth." he said with a voice so deep Kaori needed a spare boat for her ears. "Sorry for eaves dropping, but it sounded like you're both planning to take down something big. I've been lookin' for a good fight." he said, meanwhile Kaori felt her heart stop at the sight of the monstrous man. She heard every word he said, and shook her head while bringing herself back to reality. She turned to face the captain and spoke with a smug voice "So cappy, whadda you say? You got a crew started, and I've got enough pull to get you a ship." "I... I'll get a crew going." the Captain said in disbelief. He knew it'd take all his money, and he'd live on the streets afterwards if he didn't die, but he had a glimmer of hope now and he was willing to bet everything on it for just one last chance.
Kaori took the gyro to go, the waitress waving the bill for her an the Captain. Kaori insisted she paid, but her hostess wouldn't accept Kaori's money. The Captain remained to finish his steak, and talk with 'Mammoth' a bit more. He wanted to learn the new person's strengths and weaknesses, so he figured it best to talk to him. Kaori had an idea of someone who she could talk to that was supposedly a good fighter. What she did know for a fact was that she had experience in being on a ship, and could work with a team. She went to the local prison and visited the first person she put in there, Scarlet. She was nothing more than a torso and head at the moment, but Kaori could change that if she was willing to pay the right price. "Hey guard person, I'm looking for a limbless vegetable with red hair and a nasty attitude." Kaori said jokingly to the man who instantly knew who she was referring to. "She's round the corner in the back. Ain't had sunlight ina while so she's wiltin' a bit." he replied, joking himself. As soon as Kaori stepped in front the cell doors, she looked at Scarlet as she leaned against the wall. Her skin was pale compared to before. "Wow, you look like shit." Kaori commented. "Still better looking than you. So what you want? Come to take my head? Be my guest." she replied, not bothering to even look at Kaori. "Actually I can to make you an offer." Kaori said with a friendly tone while crossing her arms below her chest. Scarlet turned and looked Kaori in the mask. It was impossible to make a bad offer for Scarlet, she was in prison with no arms and legs being forced to stay alive on IV treatments; nothing was worse. "I need a crew for a high risk, low survival chance mission. You've got experience, so I figured I'd ask." Kaori said with a business like tone. "Sure... I'll bite the ankles of anyone who doesn't follow my orders." Scarlet replied sarcastically. "Or you use your old arms and legs to man a gun." Kaori replied smugly. Scarlet's eyes became hopeful and she felt her heart skip a beat. "What do you say? Going out on the seas again with a new ship, new crew, old limbs, and all you need to do is pledge your life to my service." Kaori said, looking down at Scarlet through the slits in her mask. "To hell with it, fine." she replied. Whatever Kaori had in mind had two outcomes, either Scarlet dies or she gets out of prison; both options seemed good enough. "Great, I'll make the arrangements." Kaori said and began walking away from the cell.
While passing another cell, Kaori heard a male voice calling to her. "Hey lady..." he said, calling Kaori to his attention. Kaori turned to look at an empty cell, or so she thought. "You want a loyal crew mate, take me with ya." he said, stepping out of the shadow and into the light. Kaori took a step back, a look of fear on her face at the rotting flesh, exposed jaw bone, and overall sight of the zombie that was talking to her. "What's the matter? Ya look like you've seen a ghost. No need to get cold skin, I'm not that ugly." he said jokingly, trying to break the tension. "Y-you're... you're dead." Kaori said in a hesitant voice. "Holy shit! I am? No one told me that, I just thought I spent the last two centuries in here cause I was healthy as a horse." the zombie replied. "The smart asses name is Jediniah. He's in for necromancy." Scarlet's voice called from the other cell. "What're you good at?" Kaori asked, seriously considering taking him in. "I can fight. I'm good at navigating too. If you need a guy who can get shot and not die, I'm good at that too. Hell, if ya just need a hand I can rip one of mine off for ya." the man replied, tossing another award winning joke out there. "I'll make the arrangements." Kaori said and left, not wanting to hear more jokes.
Kaori had also sent out a message to some people she knew back in Midi. They were good at keeping quiet about things, so her location was safe. It took a week, give or take a few days, but after that wait there was a massive ship waiting for them. It was almost new, and Kaori could see if from her room in the castle. It was so large it couldn't be left in port, hell it couldn't fit in port. Kaori grabbed her sword, bow, and some arrows and got ready for the fight ahead. She made her way to the docks and took a boat ride out to the massive ship her friend gave her. The cannons on it were new, and big. She inspected a few places on the ship and marveled at it. Her friend had come through for her in ways she'd never expected. On the table in the captain's quarters was a note with a bright red ribbon around it and the seal of the crimson hare. Upon opening it, Kaori noticed that it was from her friend. 'Kay, it's been a long time since we've seen you. We heard about what happened to the Lareci clan, and my father sent his armies immediately. I was at its lead but when we got there... everything was gone. Why haven't you written to me until now? What have you been doing all this time!? Why didn't you come to us, you know we would have taken you in! I won't tell anyone about this, but I need to know what's been going on. If you're doing something that requires a war ship, I'll give you the best I've got; but if you're fighting a way then I want to fight it with you. We're friends, we've always been friends... so I'll never abandon you.~Kita Shizumi'
Soon the crew started piling on the ship and Kaori heard their footsteps as they hopped over the railings. She walked out to the deck and saw a few old faces, namely Carver, Scarlet's old man, and the rest of her crew. Kaori walked up to them and asked "What are you guys doing here?" with joy and surprise. "Well, scarlet walked up to my prison cell over in Era and made me shit a brick. Then she made me shit another one when she said she was helping you. I couldn't let you both sail into hell, so I came along... free of charge." Carver replied with a brave tone. "Tis a cole day in 'ell wen I let meh brotha's kid sail alone. 'Course I came along." the old man replied, crossing his massive arms and smiling. It took hell and a handbasket to do it, but Scarlet was finally on a good path. "It didn't take much convincing to get the rest of my men back, I just told them I'm gonna go take down some slavers and make things right and they volunteered. Isn't that right men!?" Scarlet said, all her old crew replying with a loud and battle ready 'Aye, Sir!' while raising their fists in the air. "Common, how the hell can I rest in peace with all this damn noise!?" Jediniah called as he walked through the door to the crew quarters.
More people filed in, including Mammoth, the Captain, and... some girl. Kaori looked at the girl who boarded the ship and approached her with a threatening demeanor. "Who the hell'r you?" she asked with a low tone. "I- I- I- I- I'm Ch-Char-Char-Charlotte m-miss! It's n-nice to meat you!" she shouted with gusto and bowed to Kaori. "You're too sweet. Get lost." Kaori replied coldly before turning away. "Actually I invited her along." Mammoth said and rested his pinky on her shoulder, because the rest of his hand would have clobbered her. Kaori paused, turning around and raising an eyebrow. "She's good at navigating. She can switch places with someone for a night shift. She's also my little sister... Please let her stay." he followed up, looking at Kaori with hopeful eyes. Kaori looked to the Captain, and he looked at her, then at the girl. "You'll be in the kitchen with the chef. Room with Mammoth, and welcome aboard." he said while giving her a thumbs up. "Stay below deck when the fighting starts." Kaori said and walked off to the belly of the ship. Charlotte's cheeks grew bright pink and her eyes lit up as a smile shot across her face. "Th-thank you Sir!" she shouted and immediately began running towards where the kitchen was supposed to be. The door was already open, and she turned back to wave to Mammoth before smacking her face in the door frame. "Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow!" she squeaked out while holding her forehead. The crew looked at Mammoth who didn't look particularly worried and all assumed she had done that before.
Kaori had spent several days in the belly meditating. Charlotte had brought her food, and water so she wouldn't starve. The crew had all been hard at work, learning the ship and going to the last known coordinates of their target. Just before the battle a stoic, solemn voice came across the winds carrying a semblance to Kaori's deceased master with it... 'I've known you a long time child, but I still don't know you. You're small, frail, and weak; but your heart is large, powerful, and strong. You'll make a fine leader one day; but for now, sleep and dream of the universe. Reject this world and all of its' cruel realities...'
The voice faded from Kaori's mind as she looked out over the rails at the bow of a large ship. It was the voice of her master, the man who taught Kaori everything she knew about everything she could do. He taught her to fight, to kill, to surrender, and to love. He made her more than just another ninja; he made her a leader. The seas had appeared so calm today, but she knew that this serenity wouldn't last. She was in the eye of the storm, and the walls were closing in fast. The captain had chosen this morning specifically to engage his foes. It was the day that he'd lost his previous crew, and as a vow to their vengeance, he swore that he would bring down the marauders that killed them.
The masked ninja turned her head to face the captain on the bow of the ship, the large man standing with focused orbs towards the horizon. He was strong, twice the leader Kaori was and she could feel it. His strength radiated from him, and the mage could feel that strength permeating the entire ship and filling her and the rest of the crew. With his metal arm, the captain grabbed the wheel and began turning it to let the ships' cannons face the direction their enemy was coming from. "All hands on deck!" he shouted, his voice booming across the deck of the ship and down into the cargo bay. Voices came from the cargo bay reiterating the captain's orders, and all members of the crew began flocking to the top of the vessel. Kaori vanished, reappearing next to the captain with her arms crossed.
"Today we take on an enemy that's already killed one of my crew, don't underestimate them! This will be my last attempt at victory. I've spent everything I had on this ship, supplies, you lot, and this..." The captain rested his massive hand on Kaori's shoulder. "A small package, but from what I've heard a valuable asset. She'll be out ticket to victory, and I'll let her introduce herself." The captain took his hand from his shoulder and gave Kaori a gentle smile while taking a few steps back. Kaori stepped forward, the curious crew finally getting to know why there was someone on the ship that wasn't doing work. "Name's Kaori Lareci, the last remaining member of the Lareci clan, as well as the most powerful. My presence here is for doing two things, and two things alone; Getting on the enemy ship, and killing everyone. Your job is to keep firing, even if you hit me!" She announced, the crews' eye getting wide at the last announcement. "B-but you'll die!" one of the men protested. "I'll get better." she replied in a grim tone. "Assassins don't die, we just go to hell for a nap. Let that be a notice to anyone who dares try and aim for me." The captain stepped forward again and Kaori stepped back. "Right! You have your orders, get to your stations!" The captain announced and each man and woman began moving.
Kaori took her place at the top of the main mast, above the crow's nest. With a stern expression, she looked over the horizon and waited for their enemy to arrive. Her reason for being here, for taking this job in particular was that she knew what it was like to be the last 'man' standing. She was the last man standing out of a clan of over ten thousand, and she'll be damned if she let it happen to someone else. This captain would find a new clan with this group he hired, and if he was taking them to battle then Kaori would make sure they don't fail. The captain didn't lose a battle, he won motivation. Just as the sails of the marauder ship came on the horizon, Kaori looked at the captain who nodded in acknowledgement to her. He raised his right hand and shouted "Ready the cannons!" with passion. The twenty seven cannons on the left flank of their ship got ready to fire, and as the opposing ship came in range with their cannons ready, the captain lowered his hand and they opened fire.
The front of the enemy ship was destroyed, but they kept charging in. Kaori grabbed the mast in preparation for what was to come, and the crew took shelter on the opposing side of the ship. The marauders rammed them, knowing that there was no chance to defeat new cannons with longer range, they rammed the ship before the crew could reload. "Change of plans, board the enemy ship!" the captain shouted, and unsurprisingly, the enemy had the same idea. Men from the deck of the ship began pouring in to meet Kaori's allies in bladed battle, and Kaori began looking around for a good target. A man shot across the bow of his ship and onto Kaori's, meeting her captain and trying to kill him in one shot. The captain had drew his sword to block the other captain's, staring him in the eye with a vengeful glare.
Kaori vanished from her spot and took down one of the enemy grunts by sending her sword through their skull. She began repeating the action, but it seemed for every one man she killed another came to replace them. She was trying to reduce the size of their crew to ensure that hers' survived. Those were the captains orders to her, make sure that everyone else lives even if he or she dies. The captain received no assistance as he clashed with the opposing captain. The deck was in frenzy, and the opposing crew was putting too much pressure on them for anyone to get to the captain's deck and provide support. Suddenly, after several minutes of clashing blades, the opposition began rejoicing out of nowhere and battle came to a halt. Kaori looked across the deck while kicking a man off her blade who was smiling for some reason, and saw it... Their captain had lost. A blade stuck from his stomach as he slumped over on his knees in defeat.
Without a leader, the crew didn't know what to do. They looked to each other in confusion, and soon their weapons lowered. The opposing captain began laughing and turned to Kaori and the rest of the crew, shouting taunts and cursing the name of their now dead captain. The seas became angry at this sight, and it began to stir. The captain began to rise slowly, grabbing the blade in his stomach while a blue marking began appearing on his arms. He withdrew the sword and while the opposing captain was laughing arrogantly with his back to him, he inserted the blade into his back. "Thank you..." the captain said, not seeming to speak to anyone of this world. His eyes, formerly an amber color, had become blue as the seas themself and a similarly colored aura took over his body. "Kill them all!" he boomed to his crew, and the men, not questioning the order but rather being grateful to still have an employer, resumed their attack. The captain became surrounded by small jets of water that circled him and he began walking forward. As enemies came close to him, the water jets shot out and impaled them, killing them and dropping their bodies to the floor. He stopped at the middle of the place where the two ships were connected and stared at the enemy ship. "I'll send you to be a slave to my crew." he said to the ship. He spread his feet apart to distribute his weight and lifted his hands. He positioned himself like a man preparing to punch, and then when he did, a massive wave shot from under the enemy ship and cut it in half. The sound of battle stopped for the second time, and without a captain to lead them, without a ship to take refuge in, the enemies all dropped their weapons. Jets of water shot out from the sea and grabbed each of them. The captain didn't take prisoners, at least, not today he didn't. And the seas claimed each marauder, dragging them under with their ship.
The crew mourned over their lost members, and set them all in the cargo hold while they returned to port. Kaori had went to address the captain, to ask if he was alright. When she arrived, there was a note and a golden key with a strange symbol at the base on top it. "Take my crew, and my ship. I'm no longer the captain... I've formed a pact with the Celestial King. He gave me a second chance, but at the cost of having to become a Celestial Spirit. My name is Aquarius, and this key is my own. Take it, and whenever you need a friend use it to summon me. We've avenged my crew, so I owe you this much." Kaori put the key in her tool belt and went to notify the rest of the crew, who all needed some educating on celestial spirits and a crash course in magic logic, but they eventually got it. The ship was beyond repair, so it was sold for scrap upon returning to port and the crew had stayed in Hargeon to await their next grand adventure.
A day or two later, there was someone at Kaori's bedroom door saying that she had visitors. Kaori went to go see who it was, hoping that it wasn't her friend deciding to visit. Much to her surprise, it was Mammoth and Charlotte who had come to visit her. Even more to her surprise, Scarlet was there too. What surprised Kaori the most was when Scarlet grabbed her by the shoulder and smiled, just before saying "Yoink!" and a bright flash. Moments later, exactly two seconds later to be exact, she was in a place surrounded by stars. "So... something I didn't mention..." Mammoth began, causing Kaori to look at him and resist punching Scarlet in the throat. "...My sister and I are both Celestial spirits." he said, warranting a puzzled expression from Kaori. Scarlet raised one of her hands and said "I also got in touch with Iron Fist and made the same deal as him... so I'm one too." with an awkward tone. "I'm already damned to live for eternity, so I decided to join in the party." the voice of Jediniah the zombie pirate said from behind Kaori.
"Okay... congratulations. Can I go back to sleep now?" Kaori replied, thinking she might still be in a dream. The four spirits around her had all put on underwhelmed expressions at her response, honestly thinking she might be shocked by it. "You're... not surprised at all?" Mammoth asked in a curios tone. "Mammy... I live in a castle with floating books that have people that literally jump out the pages. I've fought zombie dragons, with a zombie monkey on my shoulder. I've fought a pirate army with a pirate zombie, and a woman who lost her limbs a couple months prior. Furthermore, you tried this shit exactly five minutes after waking me up and expect me to be capable of provisioning an emotional reaction. No, I'm not surprised." Kaori said in a tired, slightly annoyed tone. Mammoth shrugged, and Charlotte continued hiding behind her big brother since Kaori scared her just a bit. "Anyhow..." the Captain's voice echoed as he appeared in a cloud of golden mist. "We need to get you used to summoning us. You still have my key right?"
Kaori vanished and reappeared, kicking Aquarius in the face. "NO I DON'T HAVE YOUR DAMN KEY, YOU WOKE ME THE FUCK UP AND DIDN'T GIVE ME ANY TIME TO GET THE DAMN THING!" she shouted. Charlotte began shaking and hiding behind Mammoth even more for fear she was next to board the pain train. Meanwhile, Mammoth, Jed, and Scarlet all had shadows cast over their eyes and a sense of unease at the sight. It took a minute or two, but eventually the Captain got off the ground and straightened his jaw out. "Right, I'll let you borrow this one." he said and tossed Kaori another one of his keys. Kaori caught it but was getting ready to go in for another high speed kick at the fact that she still wanted to go back to sleep. "Hey speed demon." Scarlet called, causing Kaori to flash her attention back to her. Kaori saw something shiny coming at her and instinctively caught it. She looked at the item and it was a black key with a picture of a gun on it. "That one's mine, don't lose it okay?" Scarlet teased with a smirk on her face. Jed walked over and set his down in her hand, and soon after Mammoth did the same. Charlotte was shaking when she put hers in Kaori's hand, but Kaori took it gently. "What's up with this?" Kaori asked in a much less angry tone than before. "You're the captain now. Can't have you gettin slaughtered now can we?" the Captain said with a friendly tone and smile to match. "So, we done screwin' around here or are we gonna keep our thumbs in our asses?" Scarlet asked impatiently.
Kaori had agreed to let them train her since she did like them all, even if they woke her up at the worst time. That, and she needed to get stronger. Kaori wanted to be strong enough to defend the guild if she needed to, and furthermore, she needed to get strong enough to kill Saia when the time came for their rematch. Recently, Saia had gotten more members for his clan. They were also mages, and it seemed they were stronger mages than before. Kaori needed to get on their level and surpass them so she could kill them all, and their leader soon after. The place they had trained together in was a large colosseum type structure. The only real difference was that it wasn't decaying, the floors were made of white stone instead of sand, there weren't any pissed off animals involved, no one died, and there wasn't a massive crowed with a douche lord in a box waiting for people to get killed. Other than those things, it was exactly like a colosseum.
Aquarius had only stuck around to watch Kaori train to use the other celestials since he was a fairly self sufficient fighter. She needed to learn to stay out of the way of Scarlet's guns when they were fighting together. As the only ranged spirit in the set, Scarlet wanted to train with Kaori the most. Mammoth served as their opponent so Kaori could get used to his movements as well. He was a big target, but he was able to take hits. Mammoth was slow, and his attacks were powerful. From fighting against him, Kaori was able to find out that his main weakness was his lack of speed. He relied on having someone to distract his opponent and create openings, so he needed someone who was fast. Then, when he saw an opening he went in for a very hard hitting attack. At the same time, Scarlet was a more mobile fighter than Kaori gave her credit for. She moved around and made openings by shooting her targets. Several times, she'd used a strange chain type attack to lock Mammoth in place to make an opening for Kaori to attack. But Mammoth had countered by breaking the chain, which reduced teh amount of times Kaori could attack.
The next spirit she fought was Jediniah, who had insisted that she called him Jed since it was short. Even though he was a zombie, he was fast with his swords and hit hard. This had made Kaori question just how weak and vulnerable zombies were, but Jed had told Kaori that he was also a mage so he was able to bolster himself with his magic to overcome the problems of being dead. It was the reason he was arrested since the guards and judge had both considered a zombie using magic, as practicing necromancy. The real lesson for Kaori began when Charlotte had came in, since Kaori had never actually wanted to fight her. Any time Kaori got past Mammoth and tried attacking, she realized that her sword went right through Charlotte and the girl never tried to block. Each of them had their own special attributes, and Kaori had to learn them all. What she didn't know was that while she was fighting, Scarlet was replenishing the mana that Kaori used up and channeling it back to her so she could keep going. This helped to increase Kaori's stamina since her body had become more accustom to using magic. Scarlet even noticed how she needed to recycle less mana towards the end of the training then she did at the beginning, but she never told Kaori that. When Kaori returned home, she was returned to her room at night time
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