Pirates of the Skies

Chapter 21

Gold and all the other Shiny Things in the World

"See, the secret is to be precise." Mary said as she slotted a lock-picking wrench into the lock. "There's a theory that putting a stick in the lock and shaking it about wildly will open it." Mary added as she tried to use her grey tools to open the door. "But I think that's as effective as writing braille on an A4 page with a shotgun and come to think about… just as graceful."

"Really?" Kai said, not really interested. He was leaning on the wall beside the door she was currently crouched in front of. He looked at his nails, thinking maybe that he would take the opportunity to clean out some dirt.

"Of course, a little luck is involved." Mary continued before she heard a click that told her the lock was open. "But without a lot of skill, a little luck is useless." She concluded before opening the door for Kai to walk in.

Kai looked into the room. "I guess we start here."

Mary walked in and searched the drawers, where she pocketed any jewellery and gold she found. "I don't think my pocket will be big enough to hold all the things we find if we break into any more rooms." Mary joked.

"My dad always said to carry a bag and if you don't have one…" Kai took the smallest and thinnest bed sheet and tied it with a knot to make a makeshift bag, "make one."

They both threw the goods they found in the room into the bag before wrapping it up and moving on to the next room.

/

Captain Ikazu walked through the hallways of the Lux Cruise flanked by his first mate and his second first mate... or whatever the other man's rank was, as the captain hardly cared. This was a customary thing that he had to do as captain, walk about just to ensure everything was okay. He even had his captain's sabre, just in case anything happened. However, he knew the likelihood of something happening on the luxury ship was close to zero. In his six years of experience, working in the luxury crew industry, the most serious thing he has ever had to deal with was a child being lost.

He nodded to the 53rd "Afternoon Captain!" that he got from a passenger.

"Captain Ikazu! Captain Ikazu!" Ikazu looked back as a maiden in a fluffy green dress ran to him. Ikazu could already see that there was trouble.

"Yes, I'll help you look for your lost child." He said automatically.

"What? No, I have no child." The woman said, clearly out of breath. "There is an emergency that needs your urgent attention, captain." The woman said with such worry and panic that Ikazu was instantly worried.

"Of-Of course, I am at your service." Ikazu said.

"Please follow me!" The woman raced down the hallway, followed by the captain, his first mate, second first mate and any other nosy passengers.

Ikazu and his first mates followed the woman to a place where there were a group of people clustering around a single spot.

"Make way! The captain is here!" The woman who had led Ikazu to the place of commotion elbowed her way through also making a path that Ikazu could walk through after her.

"What is going on here? What is the emergency?" Ikazu asked, his hand resting on his sword handle. He noted that there was the head chef in the middle of the crowd.

A rather large woman in an expensive dress and a thick layer of makeup on her face came up to him. "Captain Ikazu, this man refuses to serve Sweet Beef Stew!"

Ikazu's mouth fell open in surprise but that was quickly replaced by disappointment. "Of course," Ikazu sighed with his hand leaving his sword handle. "Why aren't you serving the stew?" Ikazu asked the head chef.

"You know why," the head chef said, winking at the captain. When the head chef noted Ikazu's confused expression he elaborated. "Remember, its… its being watched." The head chef waited for the captain to have a glimmer of recognition of what he was talking about but it was clear that Ikazu knew nothing as all he did was shrug in confusion. The head chef sighed, knowing that he would have to break protocol of not worrying the passengers when it could be avoided. "The stew is… is… haunted."

Ikazu and everyone else kept quiet for several moments before he said, "That's ridiculous! Who told you this."

"The man you sent." The head chef said.

"Where is this man?" Ikazu asked.

"Uhm… I think he's gone to exorcize the haunted food." The head chef said.

"Aren't exorcisms to remove demons and not ghosts?" Ikazu said it more of a statement than a question.

"Maybe the food is being haunted by demons?" The head chef shrugged.

Ikazu sighed. "I think you've been tricked. Cook these people what they want. I'll investigate this… demon haunting."

Ikazu commanded his first mates to look out for anyone suspicious. He was beginning to believe there was something seriously wrong. Ikazu could not help but be giddy. The adventure and action he had always wanted was waiting for him… of course at a lesser extent but in his reasoning, a little was better than nothing at all.

/

"See the secret is ta look normal." Shinji said as he stood with his back to a door. "There's a theory that you can't break down doors this way." Shinji added as he looked left and right to ensure there was no one coming. "But Ah say: bah!"

"Bah?" Hazumi said, floating near his father with his arms crossed.

"Don't tell your mother Ah said that." Shinji continued before donkey kicking the door, making it swing open. "Your mother would kill me for using such words around you." Shinji concluded before Hazumi floated in.

Hazumi looked into the room. "It looks like a room with a lot of things"

Shinji walked in and searched the drawers, where he pocketed any jewellery and gold he found. "Get a bag, Hazumi. Ah don't think Ah can hold all this stuff in me pocket." Shinji smiled at where he guessed his son was, which was where he really was not.

"I don't think there's a bag here… wait… maybe I can…" Hazumi took the smallest and thinnest bed sheet and tied it with a knot to make a bag, "make one."

They both threw the goods they found in the room into the bag before wrapping it up. "I taught you well," Shinji smiled before they moved on to the next room.

/

Kai and Mary were on their 14th room. Kai's bag was getting too big to hide under his sandy brown jacket.

Mary searched through a trunk in the room and found a bag of gold coins and a pearl necklace. "Hey Kai, open up the bag so that I can dump this jewellery in there." Kai followed her instructions and allowed her to add a new pearl necklace into the bag while she hid the small bag of gold on her person.

Kai suddenly snapped his fingers in realisation. "I remember something, we ran out of cannonballs!" Kai wrapped up the bag. "I'll go get some." Kai said before he ran out.

"Kai, how are you going to carry… all… those," Mary stopped and slowed down as she saw that Kai was already gone. "…cannonballs by yourself." She sighed to herself before leaving the room.

/

A few minutes had passed and Ikazu had not seen anyone suspicious so far. As he was walking, he saw a man walking towards him. The man had on a tuxedo jacket as white as Ikazu's own uniform, maybe even whiter. He had on black pair of pants, shirt, and shiny shoes with a white bow-tie. His hair was heavily jelled straight back and shining while the sides of his head were shaved military style. The man was casually walking along with his hands in his pockets.

"Captain," the man nodded when he reached Ikazu.

"Hello sir," Ikazu said, stopping the man. "Have you seen anything suspicious lately?"

"Suspicious?" The man repeated, raisng an eyebrow. "No, why? If I may I ask."

"Oh well, I'm just making sure everything is okay!" Ikazu said, remembering his training of not worrying passengers unnecessarily.

The man nodded but did not look convinced. "Excuse me captain."

"Of course, enjoy your journey with us!" Ikazu said, following luxury cruise protocol to wish passengers a good journey. He looked at the man as he walked away and then continued with his search.

/

Hazumi and Shinji were on their 14th room. Shinji's bag was getting too big to hide under his faded red jacket.

Shinji searched through a drawer in the room and found a bag of silver coins and a peculiar box. "I wonder what this thing is?" Shinji twirled the cubic box around in his hand while adding the bag of silver coins to the bag with his other hand.

Hazumi soundlessly tapped his finger on his chin in wonder. "Doesn't look like a jewellery bag to me." Hazumi inspected the brown and silver box. "Maybe it's worthless."

"Well, Shuji will most likely know what it is." Shinji said pocketing it into the inner pocket of his dark red jacket "Aye, before Ah forget, you should go to the Cap'n's quarters and see if you can find anything of value. You got that Hazumi?" Shinji said to an empty room.

/

The man in the white tuxedo jacket neared his room. He immediately saw the door of his room wide open which prompted him to run to it. Pressing his back to the wall and producing a black 8mml handgun, he slowly entered his room. His keen eyes analysed that the door was kicked down by the burglar to gain access into his room. He jumped in, pointing his gun at nothing.

Once he was sure there was no one he put his gun away and quickly walked to a drawer. The sound of useless items hitting the ground could be heard as turned over the drawer in search of something. He swore to himself when the item he looking for was nowhere to be seen. It seemed whoever broke into the room took everything of value.

If it was not for the meeting with the Captain, I would have never thought to check on my room, the man thought to himself. Whoever broke in couldn't have gotten far. He exited the room, looking left then right, in an attempt to discern which direction he should take to go after the thief. He chose to go right randomly.

/

Mary was searching through another room, adding more shiny and valuable trinkets into her growing pockets. She wished that Kai would return with the bag and began regretting not going after him. Soon she would be forced to wait for him. It dawned on her that the plundering crew never made arrangements for when and where they would regroup. Sighing to herself, she decided it would be best to head out and find the rest of the crew.

"Looks like I've caught a little thief." A voice steeped in a British accent, or as British as one can get in a world where the British don't actually exist, said behind her.

The voice startled her and she swore at her awful luck. Just when she was about to leave, someone had caught her. She slowly turned her body around and saw a man standing at the only exit of the room. The man was thin, had on a tuxedo with a white tuxedo jacket and bow tie. Everything else he wore was black and his shiny hair was combed back with the heavy assistance of a hair product. He had his hands in his pocket leisurely as he stared at her.

Mary looked around, knowing she was trapped. "Found anything of value in this room little thief? I'm sure you found something in my room." The man said, not making any move towards her.

Mary gave him a disarming smile before withdrawing a knife. "You should know better than to corner a criminal without backup!" She said before she charged at the man.

Mary thrust the knife towards the man's chest but the blade did not reach its intended target as the man grabbed her wrist. The man lowered himself and using his hold on her wrist launched her over his back and slammed her onto her back on the floor on the other side of the doorframe. This all happened in a matter of seconds and not once did his other hand leave his pants' pocket. Mary was shocked at the man's speed. The man finished the task by twisting her wrist and stepping just below her neck to limit her movements.

She looked up at the man fearfully. He did nothing but calmly study the knife in her hand. His eyes took in the decorative curves and dips on both the sharp and blunt sides of the silver blade. It was well made and judging by his clear reflection shinning back at him, well taken care of too.

"I recognise this knife's design." He said as if he was speaking to a person in a casual conversation. "This type of knife was usually utilised by Maru Hitake."

"You-You know my teacher?" Mary said, hoping she had found a fellow student and ally.

"Know? I guess you could say that." He smirked at her before adding, "Did he ever tell you how he lost his right eye?"

Mary's brown eyes went wide. "No… you… you can't be." Mary said, her cheeks almost draining of all colour from fear.

There was the sound of someone shouting as he ran towards the pair. The man jumped back and off Mary as Shinji's curved blade cut a deadly path through the air that he had been occupying a moment earlier. He landed some distance away, where he returned his hand back into his pocket. The man glared at a smirking Shinji.

"You alright, Mary?" Shinji asked as she got to her feet.

"Yes." She said, almost like she was out of breath. "Shinji, we need to get away from him."

"What?" Shinji said holding his sword out a little more. "Why would we run? Ah have him on the backfoot."

"No, you don't get this man on the back foot." She said. "You survive an encounter with him."

"Huh?"

"He's-He's…" Mary gulped, "He is Eri Misugi."