Chapter 90: Be with Big Sister

"So what now?" Ned asked the unsettling captain while Anita stood quietly beside him with her folded arms behind her back. Her wooden fingers made an obnoxious sound as she kept on staring Lady Darcey. 

After Lady Darcey returned from mending the unconscious Sisi. She took another bottle of liquor. But, this time it wasn't orange. Clear and smooth liquid, bottled in a glass container with intricate designs—an embossing headless body of a serpent, coiling the entire bottle from the bottom all the way up to the neck.

"From Sisi," she said. Fingering the mouth of the glass container. "There's one bottle left. She gave it to me after I… save her from slave traders—illegally crossing and trading at the seas of Phoenix Ridge."

ICE, pull out the map drawn by Anita. 

With a chime. A blue 2d display of the map appeared in Ned's holographic display. Ned looked up the map and checked for the location of Phoenix Ridge. 

Now that I have the map, everything she told me about the seas was clear. Ned thought. Phoenix Ridge. An ocean with one single massive island gilded with mountains and was said to be inhabited by a Phoenix. According to the map, it was located at the bottom left corner. Southeast of the Ekan Continent. As to why it was at the bottom of the world of Earflgard. No one knows. 

Lady Darcey kept on mumbling her stories about how she met Sisi. How she covered for her since only her and the rest of the crew knew that Sisi was a mermaid. Mumbling how she would tell their boss—Empress Chi—about what had happened to her and her crew.

"What actually is your crew's mission, Captain?" Ned said. Stopping Lady Darcey with her bubbling about their adventures. Her cheeks, under her eyes, turned red. The red was so obvious Ned could see it under her ebony skin. And she reeked alcohol. 

"On the surface? Seafoam Ale," she said. "With the Lobby's ability to travel the seven seas, faster than any other trading vessels, we were contracted to trade Seafoam Ale. But under the riffraff, we do free stuff, lad. Time to Loot was a pirate after all. By free stuff, that's attacking what we deemed from the Scourge. We took bounties from Hunter's guild as well. That's how we… survive the seven seas. Also, if our boss asked us for specific missions, we took it."

"Like the coffin."

"Aye, like the coffin, lad," Lady Darcey said. Eyeing the innocent Anita. 

With Hocoff, I can't really take Anita with me. It was… rather amusing to have a little sister stronger than me. Ned thought. Gazing Anita. 

The latter smiled, seeing how her brother looked at her with amusements. 

"Anita."

"Yes, big brother."

"From today, listen to what Lady Darcey said," Ned said. Turning his body to face Anita, and tilting his head at Lady Darcey. "She will be your new older sister." 

Anita pouted her pink lips and rolled her eyes. "You leaving Anita, big brother Ned?" She said. Looking through Ned with a crestfallen eyes 

"Sadly, yes," Ned replied. Yet, his voice doesn't seem to be tainted with distress. You guys will be just another adventure of me. Whether you like it or not. With my current situation, I'm going to leave you, one way or the other. He then stretched his hand to reach the top of Anita's head and brushed her silver hair. "But, don't worry I will be back looking for you Anita." 

Having a little sister wasn't bad at all. Ned thought. After all this. This… curse. This mark. I will sure to look for you. I just hoped, with my absence. Hocoff will guard you. And Lady Darcey accepts you. 

"Uhhh, but I want to be with you, big brother Ned. I don't like them. They disturbed my sleep. And they don't give Anita food. Uhhh. And candy! Without you, big brother, Anita would rather be with the bad man. At least he gave me candies."

What have you done Yaluk? Ned thought. "Don't worry, they will give you food and candy. Right captain?"

Lady Darcey's presence was at the piece of old and rectangular parchment before her. Her eyes were looking with speculation regarding the newly drawn map. "Ah, aye lad. Aye. Wait—what? Ye want me to take care of this evil witch?"

"See, I don't like them, big brother. They hurt Anita! Hmmph!"

"They found you first, Anita. Okay? So it's not right for me to take you away from them," Ned spoke pointing the fact at Anita. Leaning his hands at Anita's intricately engraved wooden body. Her core turned orange. Somewhat a depressing orange. 

"Hmmph!" Anita pouted her lips and turned her head away from Lady Darcey. 

"Anita, leave us a moment will you?" Ned asked the reddish child. 

"Okay… big brother."

Anita left maintaining her childish figure. 

"Ye, lad," lady Darcey said. Pouring another liquor from the glass container. "In here, at seas, we don't judge people by their age. But ye? ye're ahead of ye time. Who are ye? Really?" 

Too young for you to know. He thought. Ned waved a hand to dismiss the thoughts regarding his age. "Will you take care of Anita without my presence, Lady Darcey?" 

As she breath deep, Lady Darcey closed her eyes and pinched the bridge between them. "Ye, know lad," she said. Eventually looking at Ned. "Me told ye before, me and the crew really thanked you for saving us, without ye, without yer frail-looking body and that 'evil witch'—"

"I'd rather not you calling her 'evil witch'," Ned said, interrupting the Captain in-between His voice was commanding than asking. 

"She killed half of me crew!" Lady Darcey cried.

Understandable. Ned thought. He let Lady Darcey continued.

"And ye want me to take care of her?"

"But, she's your mission from the beginning, why not take her in. She's strong. She commands a giant. She's more worthy than your dead crew." Shouldn't have said that. Ned thought.

A roar echoed inside the cabin. The stone that was hung to light the room turned dim. Lady Darcey's image went blur as she approached Ned at an incredible speed. A speed Ned couldn't follow. Unless—

Blades then clashed mid-air. The wood behind Ned cracked as he was pushed against the wall. The barrel he was sitting was thrown. The tools scattered, and the light went hazy as steam from Ned's body oozed. 

Instinct told Ned to reach for his spatial inventory and display his broken blade. A sorrowful green-blade blocked the cutlass aimed at his neck. 

Sparks danced midair as Ned hold his stand against the offended captain. 

Lady Darcey grits her teeth as if Ned was one of the Scourge's crew. Her eyes showed it all. As if it was saying 'You damn kid. I'm the Captain of this crew. You dare to mock me!' 

Steam kept on vaporizing as Ned hold his ground and Lady Darcey kept on pushing him against the cracked wall. It was almost ten seconds. Ned knew his Overclock only last ten seconds. To his surprise, eleven seconds have passed. Twelve. 

[Thirteen.]

[Fourteen.]

[Ned, you broke your limit. I suggest ending the Overclock now. We don't know yet what it will do with your body after breaking the limit.]

ICE reminded Ned. But fifteen seconds have passed. Ned wasn't feeling any exhaustion or pain. And he was sure, that he was a hundred percent conscious. 

Sixteen seconds, the black mist started to leak off his body. That's when Lady Darcey felt a chilling aura touching her entire body and she snapped. "This captain is so sorry, lad," she said. Retracting her blade back to her scabbard. 

Ned almost coughed holding his breath to extend his force. With the Overclock finished at twenty seconds, Ned let out a faint smile. That's interesting. Ned thought. "It's fine, it's my fault. This kid is so sorry as well. Please accept it, captain." 

Lady Darcey's shoulders lowered. A knock was then heard and a frail voice could be heard. 

"Everything okay, captain?"

"Aye, me and the lad were having a good talk," she replied. Reaching for the barrels and handed Ned one of them. She then sat. And surprisingly, the glass of liquor remained unmoving. She poured another. "Leave us." 

"It's just that, Time to Loot lost a lot of crew less than a year. And it's me, their captain are responsible with all this lad," she said. Pouring the liquid on her mouth.

Can't really persuade her. Pirates have unspoken rules in the end. A trade for a trade. Ned thought. That's when he remembered about the medium of their trade. 

We'll see about this. He thought. Reaching for his spatial inventory. With a thought. Ned resided the broken Butterfly. And reveled another one on his palms. A single stone shining with blue light. Gloss and smooth. But a bit bigger than the crew had been using to replenish their mana. 

"Mana stones!" Lady Darcey gasped. She almost choked with the liquid she was drinking.