The Almighty Pippa

We quickly boarded the ship and set sail. It was better to be at sea than find out the hard way what the guild had planned. The water was surprisingly serene as we sailed into the blackness of the night, towards the pirate island.

It turns out my lack of skills extended beyond just system skills to steering a ship. I tried for about five minutes before Túta banished me to the captain's quarters. I made myself comfy on the hammock, and Pippa nuzzled up next to me. Before long, the lapping waves lulled me into a deep slumber.

The next morning, I was awakened by the sun shining through the cabin's portholes.

I felt a heavy weight pinning me down. Instinctively, I cupped my hand, feeling a slight squish. I looked down and saw a pink-haired girl sleeping next to me. My right arm was pinned underneath her, and based on her position, I could only guess what my hand was squishing. I let go.

The girl let out a slight noise.

She rolled over to come face-to-face with me. She was still fast asleep, wearing a slightly oversized white shirt. Her shirt was open at the top, which gave me a glimpse of her breasts. As she breathed, the garment flashed her barely covered white underwear.

Her soft pink lips were inches from my face. I had to admit she was very cute. This may appear to be a dream come true to wake up next to a beautiful woman, but at the same time, my heart began racing, and sweat began to form on my brow.

If she were to wake up and see me next to her, there was a chance I could be accused of something. My hand was still pinned underneath her, meaning my only free one was the one with the hook. I tried to free my hand, but the moment I moved, she stirred awake.

She slowly stretched her hands.

“Morning,” she yawned.

Although I had a hunch as to the identity of the girl, the moment she spoke, it was all but confirmed.

“Pippa?”

She nodded with a slight, cheeky smile. She then leaned in and kissed my cheek before nuzzling up to me.

“So you can turn into a human?”

“Yes, this form is a physical manifestation of my almighty dark abilities.”

“Ah, right.” I didn’t understand half of what she said. I think I understood her better when all she said was Pwii. “So why didn’t you do this before?”

“I forgot about it.” She smiled the same expressive smile she had always done. Although she was sometimes an idiot, she was still very special to me. I placed my freed hand on her head, and she momentarily blinked before relaxing into it.

“Thanks for always helping me,” I added.

She just smiled, flashing all her teeth just as the cabin door burst open.

“Lark, I was just coming to let you know…” Túta trailed off.

She looked down at us, curled up together. Everything was silent for several seconds before, without saying a word, she slammed the door shut.

“Túta wait!” I called out.

I went to chase after her, but Pippa gripped my shirt, stopping me from leaving.

“I don’t like you with other girls,” she pouted.

“Don’t worry, I’m not leaving you. Túta is my dear younger sister. She is probably confused seeing you. She doesn’t know you can turn into a human. I’ll go let her know about it while you get dressed.” I tried to cover my eyes. Pippa’s t-shirt had been undone, and I could now make out her soft skin. If there were any more of her skin exposed, I think I would faint.

She nodded reluctantly, and I slipped out to catch up with Túta.

“Wait up,” I called out as I finally reached her. She stopped but refused to turn to face me.

“So I spent all night helming the ship whilst you were seducing women.”

“I wasn’t seducing anyone.”

She turned around to face me. There was a degree of sadness, even annoyance, on her face.

“There was a near-naked girl on top of you. If you weren’t doing naughty things with her, what were you doing?”

“I did nothing! That was Pippa!”

“Pippa?”

She tilted her head and had a blank look on her face.

“Yeah, it seems she has a human form.”

“Oh, that’s cool. I didn’t know she could… hey, wait a minute, that doesn’t change anything. In fact, it is worse.”

“What do you mean?”

“You are always thinking about her. You never think about m…” She was cut off by an energetic voice.

“Ahoy Mateys! The almighty Pippa has graced your presence.”

We turned to see Pippa dressed in a black pirate hat similar to mine, only smaller. She had a similar ruffled pirate jacket as well, but unlike my red one, hers was black with a red and black cape draped over the top of it. I don’t know where or how she found extra clothes, but she had also changed into a lavender skirt. Finally, she was still wearing the eyepatch Unnr had made her.

“Pippa, why are you still wearing the eyepatch?” I asked.

“Because it looks cool.” Her uncovered eye was sparkling with the excitement that she had always had.

“You are wearing an eyepatch just because it looks cool?”

She stopped to think.

“It’s also to seal my system-destroying powers,” she added, striking a pose. I couldn’t tell if she was being serious or not. I decided not to question it.

“Ok, so they are your reasons?”

“Also, because I wanted to dress like you,” she muttered under her breath. At least that’s what I thought I heard her say. I didn’t want to raise it since I was pretty sure Túta would get mad again.

“So, you are Pippa?” Túta looked her over.

“That’s right. I am the great and powerful Pippa.”

“You’re so cute.” She gave Pippa a big hug. “Lark didn’t do anything naughty to you, did he?”

Pippa smiled innocently. “What do you mean?”

“Like he didn’t make you uncomfortable at all.”

Pippa paused to think once more.

“Well, he did touch me here, which was somewhat uncomfortable,” Pippa replied, pointing to her chest.

I thought she had slept through that. It turns out she was awake.

"Is that so?” Túta commented, her smile not quite reaching her eyes. I knew from the look on her face that I was in trouble.

I cleared my throat.

“So you wanted to see us about something?”

“Oh, right! There’s a ship on the horizon that I don’t like the look of.”

A ship?

“Is it pirates?” I asked.

She shook her head. “No, merchants.”

Why would she come to see me about some merchants?

“Were you thinking we should rob them?”

“No…” she trailed off.

“Then what’s the importance of a ship?”

She took a gulp.

“I suspect they are slave traders.”

“So scumbags. What do you both think of a little side tour?”

“Yay!” Pippa squealed, raising her hands into the air.

Túta, on the other hand, looked more torn. “If they are slave traders, I would love to crush them, but just as we are aware of them, they would be aware of us.”

“So, why does that matter?”

“We can’t sneak up on them like last night.”

“So you think we may have some issues defeating them then?”

She nodded.

“How convinced are you that they are slave traders?”

She sighed.

“I’m not certain, but my gut says they are.”

“I’ll trust you, let’s pay these merchants a visit,” I commented, placing my hand on her head. “Whether they are slave traders, Administrators or even the damn System itself, I’ll kick their arse!”

▪──── X ────▪

End of chapter 14