Mimic Rogue Raizel

With the Holy Knight preoccupied, Raizel, Mel, Pippa, and I ran towards the castle.

“Your friend was pretty cool, Cap’n,” Mel commented.

“Don’t compliment him!” I shouted back at her.

“Different coloured eyes do scream cool,” Raizel added, blinking several times to show off her own heterochromia.

“If you think that makes someone cool, then I’ve got that too.” I snapped, lifting up my eyepatch.

Raizel blushed for the first time and looked away, not saying anything.

“He wasn’t that cool. Pippa is way cooler,” Pippa added, pouting. I placed my hand on her head as we ran.

“That’s right, you are way cooler than that bastard.”

She looked at me with a large, toothy smile.

We rounded the corner of the gardens and instantly spotted the glint of a guard's armour flashing in the distance. Mel grabbed Pippa, and I pulled Raizel close to me as we hid behind the marble pillars before they spotted us.

“Once again, you are very forceful with my body,” Raizel whispered, raising both her hands to her face. Though she left gaps between her fingers, which meant I could see that she was just faking embarrassment.

“Look, I wanted to apologise about that. I think we got off on the wrong foot,” I replied in a hushed tone.

“You mean when you groped me?”

“I thought you were a treasure chest.”

“Are you saying my chest is not worthy of being called treasure?”

I sighed, knowing I couldn’t win this argument.

“You are far more beautiful than any treasure chest. I just wanted to properly apologise for what happened,” I replied earnestly.

“If you give me lots of treasure, I might forgive you,” she teased back, one eye closed.

“I haven’t got much to give now. But I’ll give you lots if you join my crew?”

She raised her hand to her chin and tapped it several times.

“Can I have lots of gold?”

“Sure.”

“Sounds good then,” she replied with a smile. “Though I’m not sure how I feel about being part of your harem.”

“Please don’t call it that.” I sighed, already exhausted by her.

“Well, you do have a beautiful gemstone eye. Oh, how I would just love to lick that delicious jewel.” She pulled a disgusting face with her long tongue sticking out.

I think I made a mistake inviting her to join my crew.

I glanced over at Mel and Pippa. Mel was steadfastly restraining Pippa, who was struggling and staring frustratedly at Raizel and me. Even while holding Pippa back, Mel was still taking sips from a flask she must have stolen on their way to the castle.

The guards did one last scan before leaving. We hurriedly made our way to the castle door, which, unfortunately, was locked.

“Do you want me to blast it?” Pippa asked, proudly beating her chest.

“That may draw too much attention to us.”

“I’ve got this,” Raizel commented as a lock-picking tool popped out of her mouth.

She pushed Pippa out of the way, much to her frustration, and jammed the tool in the door, giving it several jiggles. A second later, the door clicked and opened.

“Did you just pick that door?”

“Yeah, it wasn’t hard,” she replied nonchalantly.

“Thank you, Raizel,” I said, patting her head.

A voice shattered our beautiful moment.

“Halt! Who goes there? Pirates?!”

Four guards had rounded the corner and noticed us. I gripped Pippa’s hand and pulled her inside the castle door.

Four loud bangs in quick succession echoed through the yard, and the accursed gem flashed its red glow. A second later, Mel slowly stepped into the castle foyer, reloading her gun. Raizel skipped carelessly in after her.

“That was easy,” Mel remarked, before taking another swig from her flask.

“We may have defeated them, but the noise would have attracted more guards.”

“No need to worry, Cap’n. Ya forget I am the greatest shot in all the lands. I won’t let any of them past.”

Raizel extended her hands, and the mouths on them opened wide. Two small, matching daggers emerged from them, which she gripped tightly.

“I also want to stay and fight… I totally don’t want to go rob this place once you leave.” Raizel looked sideways and began to sweat profusely.

“If you want to rob this place, I have no qualms.”

“Well, in that case, I would very much like to loot this place,” Raizel responded, nodding her head.

“But first, we’ll fend off any guards,” Mel offered, placing an arm around Raizel.

“I am truly lucky to have you both,” I replied with a smile.

“Pippa and Cap’n, get out of here already,” Mel snapped, a smile on her face as well.

“Alright, I’m going, stay safe.”

“But being safe is boring, I want to live life on the edge,” Raizel replied.

I chose to ignore Raizel’s remarks and waved goodbye as more gunshots rang out. Pippa and I turned left and ducked down another corridor.

We didn’t make it far before a door opened, and we came face to face with the waistcoat man, Reginald, who was sweating profusely. When he glanced up, the colour drained from his face, and his golden eyes looked devoid of hope.

“Pirates?! Were you the one who killed the king?”

“No, that was the duke’s doing. We are here to stop him.”

“I can’t trust the words of a pirate. You expect me to believe you are on our side?” He snapped.

“You are absolutely right.” I shrugged. We are pirates. We’re not on your side. We’re not on anybody’s side but our own. The duke is our target, and we will kill anyone who gets in our way.”

I pointed my cutlass at him.

He swallowed. “I have a job to do, but I'd rather not lose my life doing it.”

“I figured as much. If you value your life, though, I encourage you to leave. Valgroth will be here shortly.”

“Very well, I will take the princess and evacuate.”

With that, the man ran off. As his tailed coat vanished around the castle's corner, I turned to Pippa and smiled.

“Things are going better than I expected.”

Her eyes lit up excitedly as I grabbed her hand and ran down the hallway. Around the corner of the hallway, we found the empty Duke’s chambers.

“He’s not here?” Pippa asked.

I thought back to what Princess Haruka told me about the duke. At the same time, the ground began to shake, and the loud crashing noise suggested that Valgroth had arrived.

“Maybe not yet, but he will be soon.”

“How do you know he’ll come here?”

“I never forget the words of a beautiful woman,” I commented as a smile crept up my face.

Pippa looked at me with curious eyes.

“I can’t know where he’ll go, but I know where he’s been.”

She tilted her head, looking even more confused. I placed my hand on her head as the familiar feeling of time unwinding began to take hold.

“Pippa, change of plans, tell Kenji to prioritise Valgroth.” I smiled at her.

She reached out her hand, a concerned look on her face as the shadows began to consume everything around us.

“Don’t worry. It’s our victory!” I called before she vanished.

▪──── X ────▪

End of chapter 51