by V. A. Lewis
"Oh, I had assumed that had been bothering you."
"And why should it bother me?" Ginah said, exasperated and taking on a defensive posture. "I don’t owe her anything, do I? She was the one who didn’t tell us the Church— and a Saintess, as a matter of fact— was after her. I have a dozen other things to be worried about."
Kai narrowed his eyes. "Calm down, Ginah. You’re stressed and tired, I know. And while I do agree that this is the best course of action for us, I would say that being satisfied with leaving a child to die is far too callous of you."
The pirate Captain snapped. "And are you going to badger me to help her too, Kai? When doing so only guarantees our death?"
"That is explicitly what I’m not saying. I..." The Quartermaster was interrupted by a loud and clearly audible ahem. The two turned to Jack and Braz who were still awkwardly standing to the side. Kai pursed his lips as he gestured at the door. "Uh, could we get some privacy please?"
Jack simply grunted in affirmation and turned to leave the room. Braz grinned and waved at them with his fingers as he left. When they were gone, Ginah sighed and laid her hand on Kai’s chest.
"I’m sorry for getting mad at you. I’m just… tired."
"I know," he said, not moving to push her off him.
The two stayed like that for a moment, until she began to feel better again. The stress that she had felt slowly washing over her. When she finally broke away from him, she was a lot more calm— a lot more understanding.
"I’ve just been worried about a lot of things. Ever since the Elise came, I’ve been constantly overwhelmed. It looked like an impossible battle to me for so long, but I couldn’t help myself. So many people were being hurt, I couldn’t just stay out of it. And I knowingly brought you all into this fight with me."
Kai just nodded, not responding as she continued venting her frustrations.
"When things started going our way, I thought it was too good to be true. And this proved me right. I knew we couldn’t relax once we had taken care of the Elise. But I thought we could at least rest for a week, and not worry about… this."
He simply listened. That was why she liked him. More than just being her right hand man, more than just being by her side ever since she seized power from her father, he was always so understanding of her. He did not offer straightforward solutions which she had clearly considered beforehand, treating her like an idiot.
Instead, he offered her his support. Everyone in her crew always did. That was why she knew they wouldn’t have argued with her even if she decided to leave Melas for dead. "Whatever you choose to do next, as long as you have the right reasons behind it, I will not disagree with it."
"But what if I don’t have the right reasons, Kai?" Ginah asked, heaving a tired breath. "Sometimes, I just don’t want to do this anymore. But—"
"But you can’t just stop, can you?"
He chuckled as she gave him a mock glare. "Don’t interrupt your Captain, jerk."
"Right, right." Kai cast a glance off to the side, towards the door. He spoke softly. "I know you’re too good to do that. You’ll feel responsible for not helping them. That was why you opposed your father. That was why you took over his crew and mutinied him.
"And yet, I want you to be happy. I don’t want to see you like this. That was why I helped you go against your father. But you’re not responsible for all the lives in Luke, Ginah. You never were."
"What are you saying?" Ginah asked, raising an eyebrow.
He shrugged. "Nothing you didn’t already know. You just do you, and I’ll do my part in helping you do that."
She just stared at Kai for a moment. Then she sighed. "You have a way with words, don’t you?" Before he could respond, she cut him off with a shake of her head. "A terrible way with words."
"That’s why you’re the Captain and I’m not."
Ginah snorted, her mood momentarily lightened after this talk with Kai. But she knew that once this moment was over, she would have to return to worrying— to planning what to do next. She hesitated, looking up at Kai.
"What if I decide to…" she trailed off, not finishing the thought. It was a stupid thought, one she always had whenever the stakes were raised— whenever the pressure was at its highest. What if I decide to give up? To just leave and stop caring about others?
She knew it was just her tired self talking. But she didn’t even dare vocalize those words, for it she did, she feared that Kai and the others would just go along with her.
"Yes, Ginah?" Kai looked at her curiously. She was tempted to give in— admit her worries. But before she could make a decision or even open her mouth, a figure approached the doorway.
Three figures, actually. Lisa, Gennady, and… Melas.
Ginah bit her tongue as she saw the young girl return to the room. Why was she back so soon? Kai was confused as well. He turned to Melas and cocked his head.
"Leaving already?"
"No," she said, responding instantly. Ginah narrowed her eyes, looking over the little girl once more. Just earlier she had been timid and hesitant— refusing to answer most of the questions Ginah had for her. And yet now, she was… more like her usual self. The same defiant masked girl Ginah had gotten to know for the last month.
Melas folded her arms. "I changed my mind."
Ginah felt her hands balling up into a fist. She was changing her mind to now? Just after Ginah had thought it had already been settled, Melas now came back to bring it up once more? The pirate Captain forced her hands to unclench, trying to calm herself down. "You already made your decision, didn’t you? You said you were going to leave."
"I didn’t decide anything." She turned to face Ginah, defiance in her gaze. "You made your decision to leave me on your own. I am simply coming back to clear things up."
"Clear things up?" Ginah replied coolly, suppressing her mild annoyance at having more problems on her plate once again. "How will you do that?"
"By telling you the truth," Melas said simply. She walked over to the table, stopping just in front of Ginah. She looked up at the pirate Captain, not averting her gaze as she spoke. "You made a lot of false assumptions about me. And you asked me a lot of questions— which I did not answer. So I am here to tell you everything."
"Everything?"
"Yes, everything about me." The girl did not hesitate. She did not back down. Despite having been so secretive for the entirety of the time Ginah knew her, she was now choosing to spill it all out?
Ginah frowned. "If you’re trying to guilt trip us—"
"I’m not," Melas cut her off. "This is more for me to finally say, than it is for you to hear. Once I’m done explaining myself, I will put my offer on the table. Then you can decide whether you want to help me or not."
Ginah considered this, chewing her lower lip. She wanted to say ‘no’, to simply reject whatever offer before it was made. But Kai was obviously interested in hearing what Melas had to say. Braz and Jack had returned too, just for this. So she acquiesced. "Fine."
Nodding, Melas cast her gaze around the room, regarding her audience. She seemed apprehensive, almost unwilling to speak. It was almost familiar to Ginah. The pirate Captain recognized that feeling. And yet, unlike Ginah, Melas shook aside her worries and began her admission.
"Earlier, you asked me whether I knew the Church was after me. The simple answer to that is this: I did." Before anyone could say anything, Melas put up her hand and continued. "However, the situation is more complicated than it seems.
"It’s quite obvious to all of you from the moment you’ve met me that I don’t necessarily believe in the Church. The very fact that I’m a heretic is enough of a clue into this. But I am not just any ordinary ‘heretic’. I am the daughter of the Fiend— Valeria Aimy Corinna. Or Aria, as I knew my mom."
Ginah straightened. The Fiend? she thought, feeling her brows crease. She had grown up hearing of the Fiend’s crimes, and despite trying to approach the topic of magic with an open mind, she had always condemned the Fiend for her actio
ns. "You do realize this isn’t winning you any points, right?"
"I told you, I’m not trying to win any pity points." Melas rolled her eyes. "And whatever you think of my mom— yes, you’re probably right. I realize now that you know her as this terrible and evil person, and that there’s some truth to it."
The black haired girl closed her eyes, as if reminiscing for a moment. She continued slowly.
"But I didn’t know her like that. To me, my mom was the kindest person in the world. And she raised me that way. She refused to teach me magic— she didn’t want me to live the way she did before she gave birth to me. And yet, still they came for her.
"I’m not going to be the one to say whether it was justice or not, because I know that we’ll disagree on the answer. And that’s not why I’m here. But even after killing my mother, they came for me, because I was my mother’s daughter. Because I could do magic.. Tell me, should I be culpable for my mother’s crimes? Is magic really something I should lose my life over, when it’s because of them I was forced into using magic?"
Ginah didn’t feel like responding to that, but Melas met her gaze challengingly. She wanted a response, so Ginah gave her a half hearted one. "Uh, I mean, it does violate Holy Law…?"
"That’s fair," Melas said, nodding, "if it was a law written by the Goddess herself, and not by the corrupt and greedy men using her name to their advantage."
The pirate Captain certainly wasn’t the most religious individual, but everyone in the room knew the ‘Holy Law’ first conceived as a justification for the First Holy War was often revised by the Church to suit their own interests— until the Great Hero Xander rewrote it entirely, making it now immutable. And yet, it was in the same amendment did he claim that magic was something that could be forgiven if the heretic was repentant. Something everyone knew he wrote up to protect the Demon Lord’s daughter from persecution.
"What’s your point then?" Ginah asked, still unconvinced by what Melas was trying to say. "The Church is unfairly targeting you, so we should protect you and risk their ire then?"
"It’s something you all, as criminals, know well enough: that the law isn’t perfect." Melas spread her arms around. "If the law was perfect, I wouldn’t be hunted by the Church right now. If it was perfect, I wouldn’t be wanted in the Free Lands for being a slave."
Ginah blinked and Gennady sputtered. "You were a slave, Melas?" the Dwarf exclaimed. "Why did you never tell me this?"
"I didn’t trust you then," Melas said, her silver eyes glinting as she met his gaze. "But I do now."
"Lass…" he trailed off, but Ginah stepped in before he could say more.
"That doesn’t matter," she said. "Sure, we’re criminals. We understand that more than anyone. So what?" She was getting exasperated. If Melas was trying to guilt her into helping— it was almost working. And Ginah wanted it to work. But she knew it would be the end of her crew. So that was why she felt frustrated.
"So," Melas started, turning to face the pirate Captain, "aren’t you tired of living like this?"
"...what?"
Everyone in the room looked at her, a confused look on their faces. She ignored them, singling out Ginah.
"I mean you. You’re tired, aren’t you? I saw it in your face when we first met, and I see it now. You’re exhausted. You’re sick and tired of living like this. I can’t say I fully understand your situation, but you and I are alike, aren’t we? You just want to help others without feeling like the world itself is going against you."
Ginah’s eyes flashed. "You know nothing about me."
"I know enough." Melas shrugged. "Lisa told me you killed your father because he was a terrible person. You could’ve just lived comfortably, protected by an abhorrent individual. But you didn’t— it didn’t weigh well in your conscience. So you killed him. I found myself in that situation too, just half a year ago. And that’s why I can’t join the Dark Crusaders.
"You’re a good person, Ginah. Deep down inside of you, you just want to help others, but you don’t want the weight of the world on your shoulders. You wonder to yourself, why must you be a criminal to do that. Why must others come after you for doing what’s right? It makes no sense, doesn’t it?"
Ginah wanted to deny it, but she knew it was true. This was a child, and yet she broke it down so perfectly. Just what did she go through to know all this? She couldn’t have been just saying this for the sake of it. Ginah knew that Melas was speaking from the heart here— that she truly felt that way too.
"Fine," Ginah finally conceded. "You’re right. But that doesn’t change things. Helping you will do us no good. I have no reason to help you."
"Except— you do," Melas said. "Ignoring your conscience, you have two other reasons. The first is the fact that we made a deal. You claim to be pirates with principles, no? Going against our deal would go against everything you’ve worked hard to establish so far. But more than that, I can help you."
"And how’s that?"
"I can help you escape this life of crime."
This time, Ginah wasn’t the only one who had a dubious look on her face. Everyone seemed to doubt what Melas had to say, but she was offering Ginah specifically a deal, so they didn’t opine. She continued.
"My friend here"— Melas gestured at Gennady, her Dwarf escort— "has many connections in Taw. He has offered to use his contacts to give me asylum in his country. To revoke my status as a heretic there. Or at least, erase all traces of it so I can start a new life. I’m sure such a thing could be arranged for you too."
Ginah frowned. "I’m not going to leave my crew behind."
"And you don’t have to," she said. "You can bring them with you."
The pirate Captain hesitated. That was a really alluring idea. But still, she had things to take care of in Luke. "And you expect me to leave Luke in chaos as I go and live a happy, new life in Taw?"
"No." Melas shook her head. "You’re coming to Taw specifically to help your people in Luke
"As I said, Gennady has many contacts. He knows factory owners and people from other industries. Now that the Elise is gone, I’m sure many of these factories and companies owned by them would be going bankrupt soon without their drug money to support them. That means a lot of people going out of a job.
"If you come to Taw, Gennady would be able to get you to speak with some of these people. You probably can’t get all of them to help you, but I’m sure one or two would hear your case. If they come to Luke— and Laxis— to broaden their horizons, you’d be helping a lot of people. You could increase the standard of living, which would also decrease crime, no?"
She considered this for a moment. What Melas was proposing made sense. Of course it did. And Laxis did have a lot of natural resources, which was why they had survived even in spite of the initial blockade and subsequent trade embargo by the Holy Xan Empire. But still…
"If these guys wanted to come into our country to invest in the first place, they’d have done it long ago."
"Sometimes, people don’t go into places they don’t know," Melas said. "However, if someone they know pushes them in that direction, they might then stay in that path."
Ginah grit her teeth. She was actually considering this offer. This… deal. She didn’t like that she was. But it was something that appealed to both her logic and her desires.
"And if it doesn’t work?" she asked uncertainly. "So far, all of this sounds like empty promises. What if you can’t deliver on any of them?"
"I have no choice," Melas replied without hesitation. "But this is all I can offer you. You just have to trust me."
Trust her? Ginah had no reason to do that. But she never did, did she? She trusted Melas back when she was a masked Goblin capable of magic. However, they were pushed to do so because they were in a difficult position. The situation was different now.
But Melas had revealed everything she had been hiding. She was in a difficult position too now, wasn’t she? That was why she was trusting that this gambit— this deal
would come through.
The pirate Captain turned to her sole advisor. "What do you think, Kai?"
"What do I think?" The Quartermaster rubbed his chin in thought. "Personally, I’d say it’s a terrible idea."
Melas didn’t deflate or show any obvious reaction, but Ginah saw the flicker in her eyes. The uncertainty that she was hiding, and the disbelief at what Kai had said.
"So we shouldn’t take it then?" Ginah asked, glad that Kai was being her voice of reason. However, she was immediately taken by surprise by his next response.
"No. I think we should." Kai turned to Ginah, quickly speaking before she could interrupt him. "It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity. The chance to not only help those we can, but do good in a way that goes beyond our tiny influence? It’s a risk we should take."
"I…" Ginah trailed off. "But that doesn’t make sense. If we all go to Taw, we’d be leaving behind a city in chaos. A chaos that we helped cause! We’d be abandoning our responsibility!"
"That’s right." Kai nodded. "Which is exactly my problem with this deal as well."
"See? So we should turn it down."
"But we can alter the deal, can’t we?" The Quartermaster turned to Melas. "You’d be willing to make some amendments, right?"
"Yes," Melas said without hesitation. "As long as the plan is the same and we go to the Taw Kingdom."
"Good." Kai turned back to Ginah and spoke to her softly. "Then we just have to split up, Ginah."
"...split up?" The pirate Captain gave him a confused look.
He smiled as he placed a hand on her shoulder. "You take anyone who wants to go with you to the Taw Kingdom. Anyone who wants a new life— one where they no longer have to live a life of crime just to get by. And I’ll stay in Luke with those who are willing to stay. We’ll do everything in our power to calm things down for now, while you work in Taw to bring us a better future."
Ginah froze. "But that’s…" she trailed off. "I can’t leave you, Kai. I can’t just—"
"It’s only temporary," Kai said. "We’ve been together for a decade. A year or two apart won’t be anything too bad. And you’ve been fighting so hard all your life. You deserve to rest and relax a little bit, don’t you?"
