"Judging from your clothes and faces, I'd say the person who wants to et must be the devil," Arthur looked at the black clothes of the people around him. So wore cloaks, and others were black leather jeans and nothing else.
"It is unwise to insult our boss," one of the cloaks said to him threateningly, and Arthur glanced their way. He waved his hand, and the ground beneath them turned soft, dragging the one who spoke into it before it hardened.
"Next ti you threaten , you will die," despite saying that, he didn't an he was going to kill him, but the short-tempered girl next to him would certainly do.
"I apologize for his misconduct," the young man who spoke earlier hurried to make ands. "These rookies know not of our ways, and our boss's recent rise simply blinded them."
"Recent rise?"
"I'm sure that you have heard of her," the young man nodded. "The rising star of the sea, Eleven."
"Your boss's na is a number?" Dia scowled. "These are nothing more than gangsters. Let's leave."
However, Arthur had no intentions of leaving because the young man's words caught his attention. Before he could ask for Dia's patience, one of the 'rookies' used his fire ability to block his path.
The flas spewed out in front of her, and Arthur could tell her patience reached its limit. Before he could grab into her, the princess's wrath exploded.
"You think these are flas?" Diana said with disdain. "Let show you real fire," she waved her, and the blue flas of the ice phoenix rolled off her sleeve, washing away the alley.
Her flas ate away everything in her path, and the alley turned into a scene from hell. Arthur decided it was ti to stop her when he sensed a presence descending in front of them, and the air grew humid.
A giant wall of water appeared in front of them, working to extinguish Dia's blue flas. Arthur never thought that a person would be able to extinguish the flas of a phoenix, but the presence was familiar and nauseating.
Then, it appeared above the wave of rushing water. A blue spirit surfaced from with the water, and Arthur could tell it was one he had t before. The blue flas retreated as the frost exploded from Dia's hands, turning the water into ice.
"Please wait, golden one!"
A voice called, and Arthur's suspicion was confird. He appeared beside Dia, and his hand rested on her shoulder. Then, like a defused bomb, the princess cald down, and her mana returned to her body.
"Why?" she asked not with anger but puzzlent. Arthur simply shook his head and turned toward the rising water vapor as a person appeared from within it.
It was soone he never saw before, and she wore a white shirt beneath a leather jacket. In addition, a scarf surrounded her neck, and a hat covered her head, giving off a deceptive appearance.
"I apologize for these fool's behavior," the woman bowed down the mont she stood in front of them, and the n behind her were thrown into disarray. "They are new to my crew, and I never thought they would be foolish enough to go against you."
"Ah, if it isn't the Greatest Pirate?" Arthur grinned, and the woman startled as she jumped back. Her surprise confird that she was who he thought to be.
"Ah, I guess I don't need to confirm your identity anymore," the woman removed her hat and kneeled. "I've t you, at last, My Lord."
"Are you taking up my offer? What about your dream of being the greatest pirate?"
"Let's talk elsewhere," the woman stood up and spread her arm for Arthur to follow her. "I have a place we can sit in chat. May I have this honor?"
Before he agreed, Arthur turned toward Dia to get her approval. After all, he didn't want to force his opinion. The princess glared at the pirate silently before eting Arthur's gaze.
"I'm fine with it," she took one step to be side by side with him. Arthur smiled and nodded toward the pirate, who led the way toward their hideout.
***
Her na was Eleven, and that was the first thing Arthur got to learn about her. When he asked about the oddity of her na, he got to know of her dark past.
"That was my na as a slave," Eleven said as she sat on the couch in front of them, taking off her hat and scarf. Arthur got to see the collar around her neck, which the scarf worked to hide.
"Can't you remove it?" Arthur asked, and Eleven shook her head. She turned around to show Arthur the gem on the side of her neck, and he recognized it as the sa one Larza placed on him.
"It is a runic collar, embedded to my flesh," Eleven said as she turned to them, and the gem disappeared behind her black hair. "The owner... died a long ti ago, but I can't remove it."
"And did you go into the Spirits Realm to remove it?"
"Not at all. It's the least of my worries," Eleven laughed as she shook her head. "I was in the Empty Sea when I decided to venture into the Spirits Realm."
"The Empty Sea?" Dia asked as she furrowed her brows. "There's no way any sailor can co back from there."
"Indeed," Eleven went on to explain. "My Lord might not know this because it's sailors' knowledge. There is an area where no wind blows and no wave rolls,"
"The Empty Sea," Arthur nodded. "And you wanted a powerful spirit to co back from there," his words made the woman bow her head again.
"My dream needs to wait, for I am forever unable to return this debt," Eleven said with a voice of sincerity. "Allow to serve your city, My Lord."
Arthur could tell that Dia looked at him confused, not understanding how he got to know this woman. However, there was no doubt that Arthur helped this woman contract one of the Deity's generals despite their brief eting.
"I t her in the Spirits Realm and helped her a bit to find a spirit," Arthur explained to the princess before he turned to Eleven. "Why do you want to be the greatest pirate?"
"When I was a slave, I lived on a rchant ship that transported slaves from one kingdom to the other. Those who saved were pirates, looters of the sea, and n of freedom. I wish nothing but freedom, and that's why I wanted to be the greatest pirate and explore everywhere."
"If you serve , you will lose that freedom."
"There's no freedom in death and no stronger prison than the Empty Sea," Eleven shook her head. "If you didn't save from the whale and helped contract a spirit, I would have never been able to co back. This is a small matter in return for my life and my n's lives."
"I understand," Arthur nodded. "I want to act cool and tell you to pursue your dreams, but I need your services. I want you to be the captain of my fleet and take care of my mariti trade."
"You can hire any normal captain, though," Dia seed to disapprove of the trust he placed in this woman. However, Arthur could understand her point as to why would soone hire a pirate for trading?
However, Dia didn't know that this woman could enter the Skyey World by herself in the middle of the sea. Even with Arthur's help, there's no way soone without talent could contract a general of the Seas Deity.
"You did remind ," Arthur nodded and turned toward Eleven, his eyes glowing golden. The Art of Creator, Submission, worked through his mana of creation to make the woman in front of him answer his words truthfully.
To his amazent, he had difficulty commanding the woman, despite her being only a Vetus-Ranker. Of course, it might have to do with the fact her spiritual energy wasn't a lot below his, but he couldn't tell for sure before Lin Zhao's guidance.
"I want you to tell the truth: are you trying to harm or my city or anyone I care about?"
His words carried an authority that prevented the pirate from lying. Although his control over her might not be as strong as against weaker people, it was still enough to know if she was trying to go against his order.
"This is..." the pirate was confused as she looked around. Arthur squinted his eyes, and his chains almost martialized to wrap themselves around her. "No, none of those."
"You are hired!" Arthur slapped his right knee and stood up. "Are you satisfied?" he turned to the princess, who simply huffed and was about to leave.
"My Lady!" Eleven jumped to block her path. "If I'm not mistaken, you must be The Daughter of Ice and Fire. Can I offer my apologies, for my foolish crewn, through a gift that would fit your beautiful eyes?"
'Holy shit,' Arthur was speechless. 'Is she flirting with Dia?'
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