View source for 3693/PiD: A Pirate is Free!

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2019/03/10
|Location=Manor De Crima
|Synopsis=Lacrima, Ariel, Jiaying, Rei, Kunzite, Kokoro and Miho all go on a vampire pirate adventure. It ends surprisingly almost peacefully! Save for some odd weird shadow creatures... what was that about?....
|Cast of Characters=160,64,109,220,171,157,200
|Tinyplot=Paths Into Dark
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:160|Lacrima| (160)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>The music Lacrima manages to play sounds like an old, forgotten sea shanty of the 'What would you do with a drunken sailor' variety. It is actually almost upbeat. The door forms and this one looks oddly waterlogs and overgrown with dripping seaweed.<br /><br />Lacrima is hesitant to open this one, but she does and past the glowing passage into!----<br /><br />"Awkc!..." goes Lacrima as she seems to float a moment before she flails her hands and taps down onto the deck of an old sailing vessel. Specifically a boat of some sort. It's medium sized with three masts. Lacrima can't identify the class- it is not her expertise but she has a weird sense of Deja Vu about this ship that makes her scrunch her nose, aswell as the smell of the deep ocean that covers the general area.<br /><br />They appear to be near the stern! The back of the ship. There is some sort of jolly rancor coming from the fornt, or the bow of the ship. There are figures there of some sort and lanterns flickering in an eternal twilight of some sort.<br /><br />There's no land in sight, but the ocean looks dark and goopy and similar to the same black awful that's been a theme in all these weird confined containment vessels for these vampire ghosts.<br /><br />Despite this, it's warm- suggesting a tropical locale- and the ship for all intents and purposes is not completely dilapidated and still bears lots of dignity.<br /><br />There is a Jolly Roger flying at the highest mast. Pirates apparently.<br /><br />"...This is familiar..." she mutters to herself. "but I feel different about this place. She turns to the others. Do you hear that?" she asks.<br /><br />Indeed, in the rancor is the sound of an accordion and someone tapping on metal. Sea Shanties.<br /><br />"I--I guess we need to find... The captain? I'm not sure if that means there is others on here too now. Or what they could be if not people..." she says.

:'''{{#var:64|Rei Hino| (64)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Similarly disoriented, Sailor Mars stares up the jolly roger, her face gradually twisting its way through a number of negative expressions, eyes narrowed. "... I am not dressed for this time period. She says, putting a hand on her hip as she looks at Lacrima. "I don't know. How 'real' do you think this place is? Even if it's 'just' pirates I'm kind of in favor of just taking over the ship."<br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Senshi of War and all that.<br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;She sighs. "Buuuut if there's an easier way..."<br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Shrine Maiden and all that.

:'''{{#var:109|Kunzite| (109)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Kunzite, as he steps down in Lacrima's wake with the others, has a faintly tighter expression than usual.<br /><br />Mars may very well be able to identify this as the 'Usagi forced me to marathon these movies' expression.<br /><br />"I trust you're not asking for speculation on their nature," Kunzite notes, glancing toward the source of the music. "That rarely ends well."

:'''{{#var:220|Life Witch Joy| (220)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Life Witch Joy floats gingerly out after Lacrima, frowning. "Well, ''this'' is different!" she says, in that clear and bright voice of hers which sounds only kind of like her usual scratchy and androgynous tone out of henshin. She doesn't land; free flight makes it a ''lot'' easier to avoid seasickness, as well as many other things. "Yeah, Lacchan, I feel the 'different' thing, too!"<br /><br />She materializes the long staff she usually rides like a broomstick, and rises up slightly higher in order to get a better view. "I 'unno," she says, more-or-less in response to Sailor Mars. "I mean like we can all collectively handle that kind of nonsense, but ..." She taps her chin thoughtfully. "We might as well at least check out what the party's all about."

:'''{{#var:171|Jiaying Maki| (171)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Jiaying Maki watches the door form. Then her nose wrinkles and she murmurs, "It smells like a fish market gone funny." Before sliding from her seat and landing lightly on her feet. Brushing herself off, she takes a few sheets of paper and sticks them to the door, trying to refine things so she's not quite... just jamming a magical door wedge in place with brute force. <br /> <br /> On the other side, she sets matching papers near the entrance, leaving just the last one out. Folded, it's stuffed into the sleeve of her 'hero' getup. <br /> <br /> "I think I've seen this movie. It's got the silly guy slowly becoming the lead right?" Looking to Rei with a snrk, "None of us are. Bet'cha I get funny comments on the pajamas." <br /> <br /> Then there's mention of a party. Leaning forward, finally paying attention to the noise, she asks, "Can we just lock the door, scuttle this and go back home?"

:'''{{#var:157|Ariel Theodore| (157)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Once again Ariel has opted to leave Lucky behind for Jiaying's sake. But let it never be said that Ariel herself would not be present for her favorite vampire in all the world.<br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"Huh that sounds like-"<br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;And then it's through the door and Ariel lands on her feet on the deck of a ship. Ariel finds her ship legs fast though, and the gentle sway of the ship at sea doesn't seem to bother her all that much.<br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"Huh... Pirates? Like in those stories?"<br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Of course Ariel knows stories, she grew up on legends and fairy tales.

:'''{{#var:200|Kokoro Akakuma| (200)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;They have appeared on a ship.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Out in the middle of the ocean.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Dengeki Shoujo very quickly develops a quiet, faint look of tension, that steadfastly refuses to leave her face. She smoothly heaves her hammer up onto her shoulder, and then promptly stumbles to one side a pace or two as the hammer's shifted weight coincides with the swaying of the ship. "Tch..." Oh, this is going to be fun. "...If we go looking, I don't think I should head downstairs. Swing my hammer around and I'm just gonna trash the place." She grunts. It'll have to be up here, for her.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;There is a pause, and a quiet stare at Rei. "...the hell we need a ship for?"

:'''{{#var:64|Rei Hino| (64)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Rei pivots to look at Kokoro and answers dryly, "To have a pirate-free working space."

:'''{{#var:160|Lacrima| (160)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Lacrima looks to Kunzite. "Probably not good intentions on their part, no, I would imagine." she says dryly as she looks to Rei. "Well. We have to find the Captain regardless, he's probably the vampire we need to defeat here." she says as she looks to Miho. "It feels different but... I think we're feeling different things..." she says quietly...<br /><br />She looks to Jiaying and then Kokoro and nods. "Yeah it's gonna be cramped down there I think... boats usually are..." she looks to the Jolly Roger and back down to Ariel.<br /><br />"Pirates!" she says with a just a soft smile about it for Ariel's sake. Because. Really. Pirates are Pirates! They can't possible disappoint Ariel like say.... Saint George right?<br /><br />"Right, let's find a door into the ----"<br /><br />There's suddenly a ringing of bells across the ship. "Intruder!" says a gruff voice. "Intruder!" says a shriller voice! "Stowaways!" says the other! Oh no, have they been found out!? Lacrima prepares as a door bursts open and a skeleton, dressed in baggy shorts and bandana comes barging out. He looks exactly like one might expect a 'skeleton pirate' to look, with two flintlock pistols across his chest and a cutlass and he runs towards the group at an odd angle!----<br /><br />...and passes them by completely. This infact, happens a few times. One actually pushes past Kokoro to 'get out of the way, lass!' in a graty, chattering bone jingling tone.<br /><br />The music has stopped and there's sudden commotion at the front of the ship where the apparent party was before.<br /><br />"I... um...."<br /><br />The boat suddenly //SHIFTS// like something hit it, or it hit someonething which sends Lacrima careening towards the ground with an 'eek!', "...don't think... we're the only ones here now." she says. She crawls up to her feet and brushes her dress off and begins to gingerly run towards the front along main floor of the ship.<br /><br />Following Lacrima brings them to bannister over the near mid part of the ship that's more closer to the front where the lanterns we're. There is a swashbuckling scene going on here!<br /><br />There's skeletons fighting some sort of odd horrid shadow 'things'. Puddles producing tendrils.<br /><br />There's a bigger one, with a more humanoid shape fighting a large, rotuned beefy man near the middle with a jaunty pirate's hat on, and a fancy coat. "IS THIS ALL YOU GOT YOU BILGE-SUCKING SCALLYWAG!" screams the pirate vampire ghost.<br /><br />Lacrima blinks. "This makes no sense." she mutters. "Why is he... attacking..." she shakes her head.<br /><br />"Loo--look those things are things... I know ''I can make'' which means that's actually Poderoso's trick. So ---! Argh! Can we trust the pirates!?" she asks.<br /><br />Lacrima is having a slight confusion now!

:'''{{#var:200|Kokoro Akakuma| (200)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Suddenly the ship ''lurches'', but this time, Dengeki Shoujo is at least sort-of ready for it. Though the sway is much worse, the end result is only the same mild stumble as before.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Kokoro's shoulder shifts faintly as a pirate pushes past her - it probably goes worse for the skeleton than it does for her. She watches the skeletal corsairs go charging in, then swings her hammer around into one hand; a moment's appraisal is all it takes for her to settle on a course of action. "I'll find out. For now, don't hit the skeletons. Let me see if I can get some info outta that captain. If I start swinging at him, the pirates are fair game."<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;And then, the thunderous hammermaiden ''leaps'', applying that strength of hers to hurtle over the crowd and come down right beside the captain and the shadow creature. "Oi! Captain Cannonball! You know a guy named Poderoso?" Without waiting for an answer, she swings her hammer around and hauls it downward, launching a fierce overhead swing at the shadow.

:'''{{#var:220|Life Witch Joy| (220)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Miho frowns as the pirates burst out! "Okay, time to -- huh?" She blinks as they simply brush past the group, and smiles faintly. "... Huh!"<br /><br />She raises her eyebrows. When the boat ''shakes'', she immediately swoops down to stay closer to the group. Yeah, I'm with Dengeki-san!" she says. "Poderoso's our real enemy, so teaming up against one of his things is probably the right thing to do! Besides, this ship's the only thing between us and that crazy dark stuff! I don't think we want it to sink with us aboard!"<br /><br />Left unstated: they can always change their mind after the shadows are dealt with.<br /><br />She thrusts her fist forward, and the green heart-emblem on the back of her glove glows brightly. "Jade Barrage!" she calls out, as jade-green pellets of purifying light fly out towards the shadow!

:'''{{#var:64|Rei Hino| (64)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Sailor Mars locks, uh, 'eyes' with a Skeleton, and recoils with a startled "Gyeeeh!" Of surprise and disgust, one leg leaving the ground as her arms cross over her body. Somehow it actually makes her feel over dressed.<br /><br />She watches as skeletons swarm past them, arms flailing about in a reflex to aim fire at them over and over, only for them to ignore her entirely. She's left starting blankly in the direction they ran. "... Well-" She starts to say before the ship lurchs and she falls into a three point crouch, digging her heels in for balance and gritting her teeth against the racket, and following Lacrima as she moves, only to stare wide eyed at the display in front of them. "Right!" She says with a nod as Kokoro dives in, "And I'll...!" She stops and looks at her hands, cringing, "... set... fire to the boat probably."<br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Note to self: hit Makoto up about learning judo.<br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Mars shakes her head with a frustrated little growl. "If anyone can get these things airbone, I can turn them into fireworks!

:'''{{#var:109|Kunzite| (109)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>"Do it anyway," Kunzite says to Mars, absolutely level. He lifts his own hands, and shadows that do ''not'' have tendrils swarm around them. "I'll handle the boat." Or at least the not setting fire to it too early part.

:'''{{#var:64|Rei Hino| (64)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Sailor Mars smiles warmly and says, "Did I ever tell you I'm glad we didn't kill you?"

:'''{{#var:171|Jiaying Maki| (171)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Jiaying Maki looks at the skeleton, then back to Norie, back to the skeleton. "You never mentioned you could do neat things with ghosts when you tried to eat the angry haunting you know." She hesitates, wanting to poke one to see how real they are, hoping the scent isn't too bad, or non-existant. There's talk of a fight after all. Her hand going out, her guandao forming and... a bunch of skeletons ignoring them. <br /> <br /> With the lurch she does a hop-skip to keep her balance, then just spears the boat and holds onto the handle. As it evens out again, it's drawn, held at the ready and the skeletons ignore them. <br /> <br /> "Think maybe the pirate captain there was like you? Less enthralled by the idea? Though he was a pirate, power and loot right?"

:'''{{#var:157|Ariel Theodore| (157)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;A lot is suddenly going on! Though Ariel doesn't seem to be bothered by the shifting of the boat, it's the sudden cry of 'intruder' that makes her bleat and jolt. ... And then skeletons are running ''clean'' by everyone.<br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"Um?" It's not that she's scared.<br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;But boy is she confused at first, until she follows the direction they're going and-- and the boat rocks as though impacted.<br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Ariel is already at Lacrima's side to help her on up, but her brow furrows at the sight of the battle taking place. And then Kokoro goes to ascertain loyalties.<br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Up comes one finger.<br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Ariel opens her mouth.<br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Ariel lowers her finger.<br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Ariel closes her mouth.<br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"Were all pirates skeletons? Mom left that part out in the stories."

:'''{{#var:160|Lacrima| (160)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Lacrima blinks rapidly, as shakes her head. She feels like she knows what's going on here but can't remember. It's strange because she feels she should have some clarity this far into one of these places. Kokoro yells out at the Captain, he can't answer because he's locked in mortal combat with the biggest of the monstrosities. She looks to Jiaying. "....I don't think that's what's going on here... but I feel like it's... related?" she asks to no one in particular.<br /><br />Lacrima gently leaps off the side of the railing and down to the ground as she passes by a skeleton and a dark 'puddle tentacle' creature fighting. It tips the skeleton in half to a clatter of bones. The skeleton tries to grab it's head floating around now on the deck.<br /><br />"Excuse me." she says. She gently leans down and grabs the skeletal head and returns it to the pirate with a soft series of nods.<br /><br />In the backgroudn!---- Kokoro comes down hard on the biggest of the creatures the Captain is fighting. This produces a result expected of flattening it a little, but it isn't quite dead. Lacrima makes a noise. "Hi--hit it off the side!" she calls out.<br /><br />The Captain seems angry at sudden more intrusion and looks to be about to try to cleave Kokoro in two when Lacrima yells out from behind, running more into the fray. "S--Stop! We're not your enemies! We'll sort this out but for now we need to get rid of these creatures!...."<br /><br />Which seems to be going along just swimmingly, as creatures are kicked or forced into Shadows via purifying attacks from the Jade Witch-- allowing the skeletal crew to finish them off easily!<br /><br />Lacrima tries to handle a few of the smaller fry on the deck to okay results. "A--Ariel, I'll show you the movie with the skeleton pirates when this is all over, okay!?" she says.

:'''{{#var:171|Jiaying Maki| (171)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Jiaying Maki taps her spear on the ground a few times, testing her balance before darting forward and jumping from the aft, over a railing and to the deck below with her spear held downward as Norie tries to explain that they're on the side of the living dead guys. She's aiming for one of the horrors of course and successful or not the impact is met with a tuck, roll and the spear disappearing behind her only to re-form between her fingers as she pulls herself up. <br /> <br /> Dead or alive, she then tries to spear the critter, mist-blade twisting as she then tries to fling it's remains into the air. She's not great with purifying magic, she doesn't want to try any kind of fire and she doesn't think drowning it would work... with a drowned crew and all. The deck's rolling adds to her own exaggerated movements and she hopes it works out to make attacking and defending harder. For them. It's making it a bit harder for her too, to be fair.

:'''{{#var:64|Rei Hino| (64)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Sailor Mars moves forward, actually elbowing a skeleton to the side as she carefully, intermittently 'sweeps' the floor with fire across any of the creatures she can reach without hurting her, uh, skeleton friends. She gets a wicked glint in her eyes as Jiaying sends up into the air, and points her hands up. "Fire Soul!" She cries, sending a fireball arching out towards it where they meet in a midair explosion of smoke and fire, embers raining down from the sky.

:'''{{#var:109|Kunzite| (109)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Kunzite works in tandem with Mars, shadow flooding across the deck an instant before her fire, absorbing the parts that would have threatened the ship's integrity prematurely.<br /><br />And then Jiaying and Rei invent shadow critter skeet shooting, and Kunzite is somewhat busier catching embers. Not setting any''one'' else on fire is also a priority. Even including the captain.

:'''{{#var:157|Ariel Theodore| (157)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"Oh."<br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Ariel sounds kind of disappointed there.<br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"I just kind of figured if all pirates were skeletons, and if there are skeletons inside us, then maybe we were pirates too. That would be kind of cool, even if we don't have a ship."<br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;That is enough baby unicorn rambling though, there's a pitched battle going on. And Ariel is already getting on her knees and gathering up all the bones from all the skeletons that were knocked to pieces.<br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"Okay um... The neckbone connects to... And then this goes here... Um. Tab A into socket B? This is how anatomy works right?"<br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;That is not how anatomy works as she takes parts and puts them together rapidly, horn glowing with magic as she uses the power of her hopes and dreams to re-animate the fallen.<br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Into one much bigger skeleton.<br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"I think I did that right?"<br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;And the giant skeleton screeches and starts going after shadow things left and right.<br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"... I don't know, Norie. Will they be giant pirate skeletons?"

:'''{{#var:220|Life Witch Joy| (220)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Joy smiles faintly. The apparent willingness to negotiate ''definitely'' seems different. It's a nice change of pace, really.<br /><br />She blinks at Ariel's sudden mega-skeleton, eyes going wide for a second, and then she just giggles, shaking her head. Ariel always manages to bring a smile to her face somehow.<br /><br />She flies higher up, and floats directly over the group of shadows. "Okay, everyone who can be hurt by purification, stand back!" she calls out. She takes a few seconds to shift her grip broomstaff to give the skeletons time to move away. "JOY STRIKE!" she calls out, thrusting her fist downward, and a large bowling-ball sized orb of purification flies down towards a particular group of shadows ... but wait, it looks like it's going to fall ''between'' them?<br /><br />And then the orb detonates against the deck in a large burst of green purifying light.

:'''{{#var:200|Kokoro Akakuma| (200)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The near-cleave earns a glower from Dengeki Shoujo, and even after Lacrima yells him down, she's crackling faintly with electricity. "That's how you thank someone who just smashed the same guy you're hittin', huh." But the towering magical girl doesn't make a further issue of it; not while there's a huge monstrosity assaulting them all. Per Lacrima's instruction, Kokoro heaves her hammer around, building both charge and momentum before launching a brutal sideling swing aimed to smash the big shadow right off the side of the boat.

:'''{{#var:160|Lacrima| (160)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Lacrima ''stares'' at Ariel in disbelief. "I..I kind of want there to be now...." she says softly. But she shakes her head as she turns back to the small fry. With the big guy being forced off the deck and into the black muck, it's unlikely that it'll come back anytime soon.<br /><br />That muck seems to be a weird place that's bad even for things like Lacrima.<br /><br />Kunzite is playing fire marshall, allowing Mars to burn things with impunity as Jiaying sends them skywards. Ariel's big giant skeleton bellows 'ABADON ALL HOPE YE MEN ON TREPASS HERE!" in salty pirate speak as it throws things overboard like handfuls of putty as The Joy Strike vaporizes more things.<br /><br />AT some point during this... the remaining puddle creates all ..... shrink down to nothing and apparently out of existence. Lacrima pauses.<br /><br />"Hey! They're retreating." she says as she seems to wince a little as she suddenly falls back on her ass. "A--aahhh...." she mutters as she crawls back up. "Mpph I'm okay!" she says.<br /><br />Well. What was that about? She looks to the captain before she can speak he bellows up.<br /><br />"Ye all have five minutes, to explain whay ye're doing on me ship! That is five more minutes then I give trespassers." he says as he scans each of the people wearily.<br /><br />"---look! We're not.. enenmies! I don't think. He was fighting you! Why!?" she asks with wide eyes as she begins to approach the captain.<br /><br />"Why would I tell ye such a thing?" he says with annoyance at Lacrima. Lacrima frowns and shakes her head. "Because I have his power... or the majority of it. Against my will. And I think we're on our way to finally ending his existence proper." she looks to the others...<br /><br />"....These are my friends... they've been helping me... they know I'm telling the truth..." she says. "I don't... remember your name. I'm sorry. I've remembered the others but I can't remember yours... but this ship is... familiar...." she trails off.

:'''{{#var:64|Rei Hino| (64)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Sailor Mars frowns, "Nnnnn, Look, at the end of the day, we all just have a ghost problem, and we want to get rid of it. We'll get out of your... uh." Mars blinks. "... hhhhhair when we're done."

:'''{{#var:220|Life Witch Joy| (220)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Joy nods, and settles down to the deck and dematerializes her broomstaff. "I'm Life Witch Joy, the last scion of the Life Mages, and bearer of the Life Blessing," she says, doing her best to look nonthreatening. She's guessing at a few of the details, nor does she know if that will mean anything to the captain, but ... "I also carry a curse from when the Shadow Jade was shattered." ... she ''does'' know that Poderoso was searching in Japan for the Shadow Jade.<br /><br />"And yeah," she continues. "Lacrima-chan has been cleaning up Poderoso's messes and fighting his goons, in the name of getting out from under his yoke, kind of thing." Just frank, honest, and straight and to the point.

:'''{{#var:171|Jiaying Maki| (171)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Jiaying Maki holds up a finger and says, "I can work on getting you a passport out of here too I bet. If you don't mind taking a trip onward. I don't know how fun being a ghost on a sea of nastiness is though." She then rests against her spear. "Offer's there either way. I don't know how evil music related doorways to not-hell hell work. I just know I probably can't bribe you with burnt money."

:'''{{#var:200|Kokoro Akakuma| (200)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Kokoro's warhammer makes an audible sound of passage as she hefts it up onto her shoulder again, her stance growing more relaxed - though still wary, particularly of the captain. She remains silent; Lacrima knows the questions to ask better than she does.

:'''{{#var:109|Kunzite| (109)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Kunzite's shadows appear to have vanished entirely. For some reason. He's still lingering at a little more of a distance from the others, though, just for the sake of tainting things a little less if anyone on the other side -- like, oh, the captain -- noticed and started thinking ''Kunzite'' might be behind the shadow attack.

:'''{{#var:157|Ariel Theodore| (157)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Annnnnnd Kokoro bats the baddest of the shadows off the ship. Ariel's head follows it as it arcs through the air and sails clean over the side. The other shadows are dealt with and that leaves the skeletons and pirates and and and-- Quick Ariel think of something to say to the skeleton pirates!<br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"Avast ye boney sea dogs! We uh... We be here to parley. Me hearty, Norie be seekin' ta undo that scallywag Poderoso and um. Um! And if ye know what's best, ye'd tell us everything we want to know, or our bosun, Miss Dengeki Shoujo'll shiver yer timbers, yar har har!"

:'''{{#var:220|Life Witch Joy| (220)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Without looking, Miho just reaches over and ruffles Ariel's hair.

:'''{{#var:157|Ariel Theodore| (157)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Glitter goes EVERYWHERE, but mostly on Miho as a result.

:'''{{#var:160|Lacrima| (160)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Lacrima looks at Ariel with disbelif again as she starts talking like a pirate! She makes a face, but the talk of 'Poderoso' causes the pirate to frown and makes a face. "That traitor cur." he says angrily. "He promised me power in return for raiding countless vessels and this is how he repays me!" he says. "Why he's suddenly caring hundreds of years later, I don't know and don't care. He is not welcomed on my ship!" he says.<br /><br />"....Pillaje..." says Lacrima. The pirate captain says "Aye, yes that's me." Lacrima nods. "....I remember now. NO wonder why I couldn't remember...."<br /><br />"....you're not important to him." she says with a sigh. "My name is... La Crima." she says. "I am the one unluckily enough to inherit his power. We are looking to end him. If..."<br /><br />"If you're not going to help him. I don't see why we need to fight to an end." she says quietly as she looks down and then up and at Kokoro and nods. "Denjeki here, means business. It's why I bring her along. Do not worry. She won't hurt you I don't think unless you turn against us--- Unless there's reason to like that." she eyes Ariel. "And that is.... my first mate." she says with a glint in her eye. "Ariel- and that is Life Witch Joy and... Kunzite. Are here as my friends too." she says. "And-- Jiaying. The one who made it possible to come here to help you."<br /><br />A pause. "May we please... explore your ship? It's not everyday... one gets to explore a ship like this in the place I come from and much has changed in the many hundred years...!" she says.<br /><br />The Captain looks between the others and his crew and then to Jiaying. "Aye, you're talking about passing over? Can we take me ship?" he asks. "Otherwise. I'm happy here with me crew." he says gruffly. He looks to Lacrima.<br /><br />"...Aye, lassie. We appreciate the help but. We have no interest in helping the <span style="color:red">red</span> bilge-rat and would wish to be left alone, unless your friend there...." Motion to Jia. "Can actually help us like that."<br /><br />She takes a deep breath. "If... if that is what you desire." says Lacrima. "If Jiaying can't help you, I will try to make sure no one bothers you again- at least the way we came in." she looks to the others. "....They may have questions and statements of their own." she says.

:'''{{#var:157|Ariel Theodore| (157)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"Fuh... Fi... Fir... F-f-... First ma... Muh... Maa..." Ariel starts stammering. <br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;And then claps her palms over her face to hide the BRIGHT SILVER GLOWING BLUSH on her cheeks.

:'''{{#var:200|Kokoro Akakuma| (200)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Pirates... the dregs of society, seafarers that society rejected - or that rejected society. Men who live by their fists. In some ways, they're not so different from her, Kokoro quietly muses. Lifelong fighters.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;After a few last crackles, Dengeki Shoujo shifts her posture subtly; the wariness vanishes, the ready tension melts. "I got nothin'. They ain't in a fighting mood anymore." She gives the captain a faint nod, then turns, sauntering over to one of the railings to look out over the, uh... blackness. "Ain't interested in exploring, so I'll wait up here."

:'''{{#var:171|Jiaying Maki| (171)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Jiaying Maki hesitates and says flatly, "Honestly I don't know. I'll... look into the passports and the logistics of transporting a ghost ship over for a new trip." She taps her foot, knocking it in place before tilting her foot and hitting her heel, an excuse to think. "I mean it is a harbor of sorts. Maybe they'd allow you guys the chance to linger until your trip's up." Looking to Norie, she calls out, "Can you play the creepy music again if I need to bring their passports? Also, you know, the offer's there to the crew as a whole. Either way."

:'''{{#var:220|Life Witch Joy| (220)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Miho shakes her hand to try to get some of the glitter off of it as she listens to the captain thoughtfully. "Hmm ..." She makes a mental note about the '<span style="color:red">red</span>' comment. It seems something that ought to be remembered for future reference, like it's somehow <span style="color:red">significant</span>.<br /><br />"I'm up for exploration, if it comes to that," she says, grinning. "I'm certainly the curious type, I guess!" (She's also fairly observant, and might catch little suspicious details that others might miss ...)

:'''{{#var:109|Kunzite| (109)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Out over the blackness. Kunzite glances after Kokoro, and then away, and steps up as well ... not so far as Lacrima did. Respect for the captains, after all. "It sounds as if you might have a tale to tell," he says to the pirate-ghost. "Or a dozen." Or several. "If you happen to be in a mood to share any ... well. It's been some time since you had a new audience." And it might keep the ghosts busy while the others explore. While also giving Kunzite a plausible excuse to stay away from the rail. It's not that he minds Dengeki Shoujo's company; rather the opposite.<br /><br />... at least they're not ''actually'' on water. That would unnerve him rather more than what's out there does.

:'''{{#var:160|Lacrima| (160)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Lacrima looks to Ariel and gives a cheesy grin as she moves to literarily scoop Ariel into her arms and princess carry her, as she looks to Jiaying and nods. "I can." she says. "As long as it's fine here, we can do that." she says. She nods to the Captain. "Thank you, Captain." she says quietly. "...I should... go. I feel. Not great." she admits as she looks to the others.<br /><br />The others can explore! They'll find a typical old ship, crewed by a crew of skeletons that all do odd jobs and keep the ship floating. It's easy to see why the ship is in 'ship shape'. There's all the typical rooms and the only room that's off limits seems to be the captain's quarters.<br /><br />The Captain regards Kunzite and starts to go on a spiel of harrowing adventure of the types that rival the greatest stories! Such as how he actually fought Blackbeard and Blackbeard was the one who flinched (Mainly because Blackbeard never faced cosmic horror!?), and how he sacked so many Spanish ships! Lots of mundane stories he talks up. It's hard to tell if any of these are true, considering history says this guy doesn't exist...<br /><br />But people forget the magical easy.<br /><br />For now, Lacrima- and those who don't wanna hang around like Kokoro can take off without incident!<br /><br />Lacrima may snuggle Ariel to death the moment she returns into the manor, though. ~.~
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