Chapter 111: book 3 chapter 13

Fucking insane woman! Wolf screamed in his mind as he scrambled to the nearest door on the ship. The entire time he had known Hecatolite she pestered him about his magic and finally he told her only for her to dump a corpse on him! You know how long it would take to raise a fucking corpse! Necromancy is a ritual magic! I can’t just snap my fingers and… He froze as he ripped the door open to hide only to find himself face to face with a… woman in a navel uniform, sword clutched to her chest as she looked to him with wide terror filled eyes.

“Umm… hello.” He said awkwardly only to jump into the small storage room with her when it sounded like a meteor fell behind him. 

Pressed against the shivering woman in the closet he was thankful she hadn’t drawn her sword as it was now pressed firmly into his ribs. 

“Ow, uhh… sorry.” He stammered trying to adjust himself, finally managing to create a little room between them. “So…. Mind if I hide in here with you until… well you know.” He let out a nervous laugh as the woman pressed herself against the far wall. Glaring at him with large tear-filled brown eyes as she held the still sheathed sword towards him.

The distant sound of Amethyst calling out into the depths of the ship caused the woman to stiffen more. “I… surrender.” Her voice was hoarse as if she had been crying, the hitch in her voice causing Wolf to shake his head as she still held the sword out toward him. 

“Well, good.” He nodded slowly, pushing the sword away.

The two sat in silence for what felt like forever as the distant thumping of battle and screams seemed to drag on. Every so often he would catch the woman stealing glances at him, though she would quickly look away when she saw him looking back.

Wolf was by no means a big man; sure, he was average height, but years of study have rewarded him with a wiry frame that lacked definition which is why he was surprised that this woman seemed no bigger than himself. Sure, she had nearly a foot of height on the twins, but her arms seemed just as thin as his own. Her short brown hair had the faintest hint of a curl, her large brown eyes and sun-tanned skin… if Wolf had to describe her it would be… average. She looked completely too normal to be on a ship with the heroes while they battled the overpowered monsters of the world…

“So… holy navy, huh?” He finally said after the third time catching her looking at him. Trying to ignore the strange thumping sound that came from beneath their feet.

She let out a small yell before answering in a shaky voice,  “Well… you know, they drafted everyone who could use magic of any kind, so here I am. The hours are long, pay is horrible but it’s a living. Apparently the navy likes keeping people with ice affinity around to keep food good while at sea.” She let out a hollow laugh, her hands creaking as she balled them into fist. “Merchant?”

“Pirate, apparently.” He returned her laugh, “pay isn’t bad, hours are ok too. Boss is terrifying but, it’s a living.”

They fell into silence again only for the entire ship to rock as an ear splitting sound shook the wall behind them followed by another pain filled scream that seemed to pull at the very air itself. “Do… Do you think that girl that was with you can beat them?”

“The Heroes?” Wolf shrugged, “I surely hope so, don’t look forward to the trial if they don’t.” again he laughed though there was no joy in it. There had been holy knights on this ship, and though necromancy was not exactly illegal, it was strongly frowned upon. The only reason it was tolerated was the affinity for dealing with spirits and rituals to prevent undeath. Most large towns and cities have at least one necromancer to act as undertaker given they help put souls to rest and keep the bodies where they belong.

She only nodded, falling quiet again as she held her arms tight to her chest. After another particularly loud crash she shrank back, “Was… was she telling the truth… that you wont hurt people who surrender?”

“Oh yea.” He nodded, “Amethyst won’t let anything happen once the fighting has stopped, it was like that when they took over our ship at least. But I would avoid Hecatolite, she’s…”

Just then another yell, “I sur….” The scream was cut off by a sickening crunch.

“That…. that guy was going to say…. I sure won’t ever surrender…. Yea that’s it.” Hecatolite’s voice called out over the chaos only to be followed by the sound of splintering wood. “Fuck you too!” An explosion followed shortly after and Wolf swore he could hear Amethyst sigh despite the ringing in his ears.

“Maybe stay behind me after the fighting stops, just to be sure.” He laughed with a shrug, no longer concerned whether or not Hecatolite and Amethyst would win, just how long it would take.

“And if they lose?”

“Well, then,” he found it odd how easily he was able to relax as he answered, “I’ll be executed. Not much I can do about that.” He gave her a slight smirk. Maybe he was going mad after being thrown into another life-or-death situation. He patted his leg nervously, wishing he had enough room to sit as he leaned back against the wall. “So… yea…”

“You’re not what I expected when I heard you yelling about being a necro.” She said softly, causing him to glare.

“Well sorry to disappoint.” He was aware of the stigma of his magic, the rumors…

“Not at all.” She said apologetically, “It’s just… you know, what people say about…”

“As an ice mage, do you romp around on icicles?” he hissed, causing her to flush red and look away. He let out an exasperated sigh, “Sorry I shouldn’t snap at you about it. No, not all necromancers are like that, nor are we all recluses who collect skulls…”

“Do you collect skulls?” 

“That… is beside the point.” He sighed again as she laughed, not the hollow laugh from early but a proper giggle that caused her to cover her mouth. He couldn't help but chuckle with her, only then realizing the sounds of battle seemed to have stopped… "Been quiet for a second… shall we take a peek?” He cautiously grabbed the door handle. 

“Wait… what if they are still fighting?” she asked, grabbing his arm. “We… we should give it a few minutes.” He nodded as he leaned back again.

They did not get the chance to wait very long before the door was violently torn from the wall before them. Standing there in all her glory, covered only in a truly impressive amount of viscera and a hat much too large for her head, Hecatolite glared at Wolf.

“This is where you have been hiding.” She growled, turning her eyes to the woman beside him. Her glare quickly turning into a quirked eyebrow, “Plague, you dog. Sneaking off in the middle of a fight with a cutie from the enemy.” She rushed past him grabbing the woman’s hands, “He didn’t force you, did he?”

“Hecatolite!” Wolf yelled as she glared at him. “I would never!” 

The stunned woman looked up to Wolf, before slowly looking back to the blood-soaked woman holding onto her hands, unable to speak as her red eyes flashing inky black for a moment. Hecatolite jumped back with wide eyes, her mouth opening and closing several times before she finally started yelling. “Eryl! Eryl come here!” she screamed, not looking away from the woman. 

“What?” Someone called back.

“What do you know about babies!” Hecatolite yelled back, causing the already silent battlefield to somehow fall even quieter as the words hung in the air.

“Did… did you find a baby?” Wolf could hear the confusion in Eryl’s voice.

“No, well yes. I think I did! I think Wolf made a baby in the closet while we were fighting!”

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“Wolf made a baby in the closet?” Amethyst asked, appearing beside her, looking no worse for wear as she leaned against the door frame. “Oh wow, Mr. Wolf, I was wondering where you ran off to only to find you taking advantage of a maiden.” She shook her head as Hecatolite’s tail wrapped around the man’s stomach.

“You better not have!” She growled, pulling him closer to her, “You better take responsibility for this, Wolf.”

“Now wait one second, I…” he let out a yelp as Hecatolite forced him to the ground.

“Now if you didn’t want this you should have used protection, seriously, you're much too old to be fooling around like this.” She hissed digging in the bag on her hip, after a second she pulled out a whole hand that was covered in large golden rings. “Now, pick one of these and be a man.” She said, dropping the hand into his lap.

The woman in question let out a weak laugh as she watched the unfolding scene before her, the sound causing both the strange girls to snap their attention to her.

“She’s… she’s crying!” Hecatolite yelled running to the woman and, with a gentleness that caused even Amethyst to pause, wrapped the woman in her tail. “You’re not hurt, are you? Did he hurt you? I'll beat him up if he did… don’t cry, it's ok.” She stammered patting the woman’s shoulder.

“No, not at all.” She shook as Hecatolite hugged her. “He… he was a perfect gentleman the whole time. I swear it.” the unfathomable circumstances causing her whole body to feel weak as she realized that… “Did… Did you kill the heroes?” she asked.

“No, but we beat them up really good. Do you want to see…”

“No!” the woman snapped causing Hecatolite to jerk, “Sorry… it’s just… a lot…”

“Well yea, but it’s a happy thing. Wolf may be a little weak but he’s a good guy.” Hecatolite wiped the woman’s cheek, “Super-organized, best list maker I ever seen you know. Guy could put a filing cabinet out of business.”

“Thanks for the compliment.” Wolf grumbled trying to stand only to nearly be bowled over by a rushing Himari. 

“I heard there was a baby.” She wheezed looking around the small room. 

“Really fish eggs?” Hecatolite scoffed as Amethyst took Himari’s arm to support her. Hecatolite whispered to the woman who was safely wrapped in her tail, “she’s a vet or something who likes to play doctor.” 

“Hecatolite!” Himari screamed slamming her cane on the floor, “This is no time for jokes, if there really is a child it could be in danger…” She paused as she realized Hecatolite was coddling a full-grown woman. “That’s… an adult…”

“Pff, shows what you know,” Hecatolite held a handout to the woman’s stomach, though everyone noticed that she didn’t touch it as if she would hurt her. “The baby is in there.” She rolled her eyes as everyone seemed to wait for an explanation, “She has a soul in her belly, so it's either a baby or the world’s largest tapeworm.”

The woman shivered again, seeming to hold back a cry as everyone but Hecatolite saw the flash of pain on her face. “Ok, let's get her to our ship and I can do a proper examination…”

“Why would we let you…”

“Hecatolite,” Amethyst cut her off, now she could have convinced Hecatolite to let Himari examine the woman normally… but… “We should let the parents decide if they want Himari to examine her or not.” She couldn’t hold back her laughter as she looked at the stunned Wolf on the floor. “Wolf?”

Wolf glared at Amethyst who only giggled before looking up at the shocked woman wrapped in Hecatolite’s tail. Sighing, he answered, “You may want to consider it, Himari is a saint despite Hecatolite’s... opinion.” The stunned woman could only nod as Hecatolite clicked her tongue.

“Fine, let’s get back to our ship.” she said carefully helping the woman out of the closet.  

Once they made it onto the deck of the ship, they had to pause as Wolf and the woman looked at the massive amount of carnage. Dozens of men lay around groaning as the crew from the Copper Tusk made short work of unloading barrels of cargo onto their own ship. 

Laying in a bloody heap next to the wheel of the ship, Jacks body sat unmoving next to a large hole in the deck, both his legs bending at unusual angles, his hands looking as if they had been torn off at the wrist leaving sickening jagged stumps. It wasn’t hard for Wolf to guess that Hecatolite got annoyed by his wind spells and decided to just attack him from where his wind couldn’t reach her. Though he couldn’t understand why it looked as if someone had chewed on his face…

“I… I thought you said you didn’t kill them?” Wolf held back the bile rising in his throat as they made their way across the deck. Many of the men were still alive, though that wasn’t to say they were in one piece. Some looked as if they had been dissected with a razor while others were crushed beyond recognition… 

“Oh, he’s not dead. Calamari was going to heal him when she got the chance. Had to nom him good after he got my eyes,” she grinned wide, showing her unnerving teeth. She seemed to miss the horrified look of the woman who she was all but carrying.

Amethyst was the one to stop the group, her eyes darting between the hero Jacks and the woman. “Did he…” The woman did not answer, simply nodding. The motion caused something to click in her mind, her entire body stiffening. The vile feeling the man had caused her earlier suddenly made sense as her entire consciousness was overtaken by a single word… Guilty! Amethyst let out a loud breath as her control over her mana faltered, temporarily blasting them all with the full fury of her divine presence causing Wolf to nearly bite his own tongue as he looked back to her with wide eyes. 

Wolf had accepted the two girls were sisters, even knowing Amethyst was powerful, but for the first time he realized a simple truth that he had been ignoring… no, a truth he rejected, feared… They were just playing with them… they are both monsters.

He was stunned as Amethyst patted the woman's back, apparently being wrapped in Hectolites tail had spared the terrified woman from Amethyst's outburst. 

“Hecatolite," Amethyst's voice seemed strained as she addressed her sister. "Be careful getting them back to the ship, ok?" 

Hecatolite cocked her head to the side, "Aren’t you coming?”

“I’ll… be right behind you,” she paused as if thinking before finishing. “I have something I need to do.” 

Hecatolite just shrugged, grabbing the stunned Himari in her free arm as she lifted both the woman and the saint with little more than a grunt as black veins flared across her arms and legs. “Ok,” she exclaimed bluntly as she tapped Wolf's shin with her foot, ushering him towards the row boats. “Be quick though, just because they don’t deserve mercy doesn’t mean you should torture yourself.” Amethyst froze, spinning just in time to catch a glimpse of her sister's anger filled glare directed towards the man before it vanished behind the rim of her new hat. She knew it was wrong to assume Hecatolite did not realise what had happened but… “Besides, we are going to have a massive celebration! Our first haul and a wedding! Would be a shame if you missed it.”

Amethyst laughed as Hecatolite commandeered not only one of the row boats but another man to help Wolf row. 

A moment later she was standing above the man who lay gasping on the deck of the ship, “I, The Singularity, see you, Summoned Hero Jamul Reed, Jacks the pirate king.” The entire ship fell silent as the thick miasma like mana filled the air, the clouds themselves darkening as they seemed to push away from the now glowing woman. “For your sins against this world I hear by cast my judgement upon you,” With a flick of her wrist her sword appeared in the man’s chest, nailing him to the deck of the ship, “a single death is lost upon you, may you find what you just deserve in your next life.”

  She ignored the thunderclap of a terminal as she returned to her own ship. “Summoned hero Jamul Reed, Jacks the pirate king. Has died, soul bound by divine curse, adding soul to cycle of reincarnation… reincarnation options are limited because of divine curse.”