Chapter 1
There were few things that Vyse Dyne enjoyed more than the thrill of a hunt. The wind blowing through his hair, bitingly cold in his post at the very top of the
Albatross. Inside the little crow's nest, there was no one but him, staring out in the distance. He knew there was a Valuan ship out there. Right down in his bones. The very idea of raiding one of those monsters had him on the edge with excitement. Valuan ships were the best prizes. Dangerous and rich, filled with adventure and plunder.
It was enough to have him wearing a grin, underneath a scarred cheek. Vyse idly stretched, his youthful body easily moving with the motion. At seventeen, he knew he was young for a Pirate. His dad never cared, though. Vyse was always the first to board a ship, with his blue-moonstone cutlasses out and ready. Not many Valuans could fight someone who dual-wielded
cutlasses. The thought only served to make his grin widen.
"Briggs! Bring us up to full speed, now!"
That was his father, far below. Vyse craned his neck, easily spotting the tall man in the bridge. His father was a commanding presence, arms crossed over his chest and pistol resting on his hip. The crew ran around, following each and every order with a precision that no Valuan ship ever had. Ha. Suck it, military discipline!
Laughing to himself, Vyse turned back, and reached a hand to his face. His light blue tunic blew in the fierce wind as the
Albatross picked up speed, while his fingers brushed against the single eyepatch he wore. Unlike a traditional one, this eyepatch was more of an
eyeglass. Made of the finest glass that money could buy, it included a twinge of Silver magic worked into the material. Magic that allowed the teenager to 'zoom in' as if he were holding a traditional telescope. Part of the reason he was up here, really.
Gotcha!
It didn't take long for his brown eyes to lock on, anyway. Chugging along in the distance, completely oblivious to the
Albatross, was a Valuan battleship. From the rear, it looked like any other battleship. Fat stern, massive gallery, and four propellers churning through the clouds. The only difference was yellow moonstone alloy along the keel, standing in stark contrast to the dull iron of the rest of the hull. Whoever was in command of
that ship had deep pockets. Or it was just gaudy yellow paint.
Probably someone important then.
Ah well. More gold that way!
"Bring us right along side, Briggs!" Dad's voice echoed up again, as the
Albatross rapidly gained on the oblivious Valuan. From their position, hidden in clouds, the other ship likely couldn't even see them. "Ready grappling hooks!"
While the crew ran around and started twirling grappling hooks, Vyse pulled his own free. Idly passing it between his hands, he watched as the ship drew closer and closer. With an almost
lazy turn, the Valuan exposed her bow. An extremely gaudy and ostentatious golden prong shot up, yellow alloy rippling as it pointed up from the bow. Vyse groaned, and shook his head.
"Damn, that's ugly." He muttered under his breath. Give him a good old sail ship any day.
Ugly or not, the ship was a prime target. Before anyone aboard could react, the
Albatross pulled alongside. Briggs easily spun the agile sailor alongside the metal behemoth, dwarfing her. When her wings scraped against the side of the Valuan ship, the word
Cygnus barely visible on her flank, the crew of the
Albatross tossed over their grapples. A grinding sound rang through the night, as the two ships locked together. Panicked shouts in Valuan echoed from the
Cygnus, while Vyse grinned and spun his own grapple.
Pulling his arm back, the Blue Rogue tossed it over. With practiced ease, the hook caught upon the deck behind the bridge, creating a rope bridge that Vyse was only too eager to use. One of his cutlasses, the small off hand one, was perfect for that. Taking a flying leap from his position in the crows nest, the teenager hooked it to the rope and slid down with a whoop of exhilaration. Wind blew by his face. The blue tunic he wore, normally loose with its open sleeves, clung tightly to his chest. His body coiled in preparation.
And he let go, flying over the railing of the battleship. Vyse's feet caught on the thick metal plating, skidding while his thick moccasins found their purchase.
"Air pirate scum!"
Right in front of five Valuan marines, all of them kitted out in full plate armor. Helmets hid their faces, and broadswords were raised up. It was impossible to tell if they were shocked or not. Vyse didn't much care either way, grinning cheekily at them, idly spinning his cutlasses in his hand. Searchlights came to life behind him, their electric light glinting off the bright azure blades in his hand. The dull shine of equally dull green armor came from the soldiers.
Vyse just rolled his eyes at them. "Nice to see a welcoming party! So, you Valuans want to surrender or...?"
That got a reaction. The soldiers tightened their grips on their weapons, and one stepped forward. The marks of a sergeant were carved into the shoulders of his armor. A deep voice, speaking in Valuan, rang over the deck. "This is a ship of the Valuan Imperial Armada! Do you
realize who you're attacking, welp?"
"'course I do! You guys have the best stuff!" Vyse shot back, in Valuan as well. You didn't live in Mid-Ocean and raid without picking up that language quickly.
"Attacking us all by yourself?" The soldier shook his head, almost seeming perplexed behind his anger. Almost. "You're incredibly brave, or just stupid. We'll be tossing you overboard!"
Vyse could have shot back with a smart ass remark, but he didn't need to.
"Not if I'm here, you aren't!"
Because a female voice did it for him. Dropping lightly to the deck next to him, spotlights shining on her green moonstone boomerang, was his best friend. Aika sent Vyse a lazy grin, completely unconcerned by the Valuan guards. Not much younger than Vyse himself, the teenage girl looked every
inch the Air Pirate. Her body was clad in a tight fitting yellow dress, her arms and legs left completely bare safe for skintight shorts preserving her modesty. Her lean body rippled with muscle, from long years raiding and training to use her boomerang- a weapon that dwarfed her -properly. That her long orange hair was tied back into two ponytails only served to accentuate the image.
No one would call her ugly, but she certainly wasn't classically pretty either, with her tanned face and sharp features. Or her brown eyes, narrowed at the soldiers.
"Sorry I'm late," she did grin cheekily, though. "Name's Aika, I'm a Blue Rogue like Vyse. And we're here to rob you blind!"
The Valuans were distinctly unamused. Vyse laughed. "Oh Aika, never change."
"Not planning on it!" She trilled at him, though her eyes- and Vyse's, for that matter -never once left the guards or their sharp blades.
Guards who had quickly tired of this nonsense, clearly. "Enough! We're going to kill you brats, and toss your bodies overboard!"
"Ooh...scary!"
Vyse rolled his eyes, "Aika."
"What?" His friend winked out of the corner of her eye, even as she pulled back her arm to let her boomerang fly.
She wouldn't get the chance. The sergeant began to rush forward...only for the
bang of a handgun to echo. His cheap armor provided no protection. The spark of an impact flew from his helmet, and the man tumbled to the deck. Blood flowed from a massive hole in his helmet, as the other soldiers spun around to see where the shot had come from.
As it turned out, it was from Vyse's father. Dyne held a smoking pistol in his hand, while two of his crew stood on either side of him. "Are you two done? We have a job to do."
"Heh..." Vyse scratched the back of his head with his off-hand. "Sorry, dad."
Dyne rolled his eyes, "When we're on a mission, it's not 'dad'. It's
Captain." His pistol never left the Valuan guards, though. "Now, get to the bridge and shut off the engines! We'll deal with these guards."
"Aye aye,
Captain." Vyse gave a mock salute, waving at Aika as he spun on his heel. "Come on!"
"Right behind you, Vyse!" The redhead grinned wildly, her hair whipping behind her while gunfire broke out on the deck. Neither teenager looked back, as they shot into the dark bowels of the
Cygnus, looking for the bridge.
Been on one battleship, been on them all.
Vyse couldn't help but roll his eyes, as he slammed the door marked 'bridge' open. All Valuan ships followed the same layout, and as ugly as she was, the
Cygnus was no different. Her bridge, however, was completely empty.
"Aw, come on!" Aika complained, slinking in behind Vyse. Her moves were all elegance and smooth, as she stalked around the empty consoles. "Did they all run away?"
Her friend shrugged, "Guess so? Not every Valuan is brave I guess."
While Aika pouted, Vyse scanned the bridge. Consoles were laid out facing the expansive windows. A traditional wheel rested at the very front, though it was empty now. The blinking lights meant exactly
nothing to him, though. He did curl his lip a bit at the massive chair at the back, raised above everyone else. Valuans...why they needed to be above everyone was beyond him.
Oh well, something for another time. His brown gaze shifted, coming upon a swaying door leading deeper into the vessel. Reaching out a hand, he tapped Aika on the shoulder. Spinning around, her eyes narrowing at the door, Aika responded with a nod. And an absolutely
evil grin.
He almost felt sorry for the Valuans.
Almost.
"Bet they're running for the lifeboats?" Vyse asked, almost rhetorically.
Aika snorted, "Fool's bet, Vyse."
Grinning at his friend, the brunette waved a hand with his cutlass. "Ladies first."
"How honorable!"
Aika gave a mock bow, and shot forward through the door, almost faster than Vyse could follow. He shook his head, a fond smile crossing his face. The pair had been friends since they were just little kids. Best friends. It was why they teased each other so much, as he followed after her rapid footsteps. They had been on more than one raid together, and could match each other perfectly. Vyse would normally go first, and Aika would normally follow. Right now, though, he let her go first. After all...
Few things annoyed her as much as cowards who abandoned their men.
I don't want to ever be on her bad side like that
!
Grin refusing to fade, Vyse slowed his pace, as he and Aika came out inside what he thought would be the lifeboat bay. Instead, they found themselves inside one of the cannon rooms. Probably the lower one, secondary guns retracted into loading positions. The Valuans hadn't been expecting combat...but, even so, someone should have been in the room. Instead, there was just the cannons, dully glinting in the light. Gunpowder and cannonballs neatly in their containers on either side.
It was deserted. Save for the sound of shuffling, on the walkway leading to the upper level of guns on this deck.
"Aika?" Vyse shared a look with his friend. A single eyebrow crawling up his face.
The redhead rolled her eyes and mouthed
'cowards' at him. She shook her head, and shot over towards the stairway at the center of the cannon gallery. Vyse shook his own head, following after her. A short climb later, and they were staring across the way, at...well.
Vyse wasn't quite sure. A blonde figure, turning their head to look his way. His first instinct was to say it was a woman. Slim, aristocratic features. High cheeks and a narrow nose, over full lips. Bright blue eyes, staring disdainfully at him underneath a mop of blonde hair. The hair was slicked forward a bit, raising in a puff over one eye, while the rest fell on the figure's shoulders. Broad shoulders underneath a bright white uniform, glaringly decorated by golden tassels hanging off pauldrons. On the figure's chest, were a dizzying array of Valuan medals. The tight black pants they wore only added to the incongruity of it all. Wasn't this a combat vessel?
"Ah...I see that Air Pirates have decided to
infest my ship." The figure spoke, with a distinctly- if very feminine -
male voice. A man, then. Admittedly a very
pretty man, but a man nonetheless. "How quaint. Do you plan to steal everything I own as well?"
"That was kinda the plan, yeah." Vyse rolled his shoulders, cutlasses tightening in his hands. "You are?"
The man's lip curled in disgust, as if he were looking at a particularly disgusting bug. "I am Alfonso, cherished son of Valua's Royal Family. As well as the First Admiral of the Imperial Armada. I should hardly be surprised an
Air Pirate does not recognize me."
"Nah, not ringing a bell. Besides, I thought the Prince was..." Vyse didn't actually know the Prince of Valua, but he sincerely hoped this man wasn't it. He may not
like Valua much, but he didn't wish this man on anyone.
"I'm not the Prince, you ingrate!" Alfonso's high-pitched voice rang out indignantly. "He is my cousin!"
Beside Vyse, Aika pouted. "Aww...that means you aren't as loaded as he probably is. Do you at least have
some gold around here?"
While Alfonso began to
twitch in irritation, Vyse's eyes trailed over to his side. A man in silver armor, bearing the rank markings of a Commander, was beside him. Over
that man's armored shoulder, hung a small white...something. Narrowing his eyes, the Pirate looked a bit closer...and felt his blood run cold. Hanging over his arm with blood rolling down her forehead, was a young woman. A girl no older than he was. Her pale skin and almost platinum blonde hair stood out, looking like nothing he had ever seen before.
Even if she were as dark skinned as a Nasrean or as fair as a Valuan, it wouldn't make much difference to him, though. What mattered was the fact that an Admiral of the Armada was apparently kidnapping a young girl.
"Hey, what's with the girl?" Vyse asked, his voice deceptively calm. Angry brown eyes narrowed, when they turned to a smugly smiling Alfonso. "I didn't think someone of your
stature would stoop to kidnapping."
Alfonso laughed haughtily, flipping a cape over his shoulder. "Who she is, and what she is doing here, are none of your concern
Pirate. Now, if you are quite finished, I have places to be." A snap of his finger had four men in light armor, lighter even than the marines on the deck, appear beside him. "Guards, take care of the trash."
Without even looking back, Alfonso spun on his heel and marched out of the room with his apparent Vice Captain following along. Vyse would have called after him, however, he was rather distracted by a Valuan guard jumping forward. A dull steel blade, not a hint of moonstone ore, clashed with a hastily raised cutlass. Vyse felt the impact in his bones, his entire body vibrating with the impact.
Gritting his teeth, the teenager brought his larger blade up in a swift vertical stab. It wasn't designed for it, as a cutlass was a cutting weapon.
It didn't matter. The sharpened Blue moonstone cut right through the man's thin armor, and impaled into his stomach. The Valuan let out a strangled gasp, even as Vyse pulled his weapon free and spun away. Without another sound, the guard fell into the darkness below, while Vyse spun and met his comrade head on. His cutlasses were raised in an 'x' pose, catching the Valuan blade between them. He imagined that the man behind the helmet was gaping.
"Nice try!" Vyse taunted,
yanking his blades. The Valuan stumbled, even as Vyse brought his leg up and delivered a sharp kick to his chest.
Even through his armor, the man felt the blow. He grunted in pain, pulling back and shaking his head. Vyse didn't give him much of a chance to rest, sprinting forward. His cutlass, the offhand one, slashing horizontally at the man's weak neck armor. The soldier raised his own blade, catching Vyse's weapon...
Leaving his chest undefended, as Vyse's other blade came up and slashed across it. Carving through metal and flesh, dropping the man in a puddle at his feet.
"Bruja! Bruja!"*
Cries of
'witch' echoed behind him, and Vyse turned away from his downed foes. The remaining two guards were coated in flames, jumping over the edge in a mad escape from Aika. Who flashed him a thumbs up, grin crossing her face. "You really think the Valuans would learn by now. It's not like Magic is that rare!"
"Sure, but they're not from Nasr. They don't use
red Magic." Vyse rolled his eyes, smiling at his friend.
"Meh." Aika shrugged, and pointed her boomerang at the door. "Should we chase after pretty boy?"
Vyse bit his lip, frowning deeply. Strictly speaking, they owned the ship. That was what they were here for. And if he was a Black Pirate...that would be enough.
He wasn't.
"No, we need to rescue that girl." The teenager squared his shoulders, and marched across the walkway towards where Alfonso had fled.
Aika laughed behind him, "Knight in shining armor, much?"
Sending his friend a flat look, Vyse didn't bother raising to
that bait. Instead, he raised his leg and kicked the door open, rushing through with his weapons ready. Only to see an empty room, with a
heavy bulkhead locked in front of him. He wasn't going to get through that. Biting back a curse, the Rogue shifted his gaze, coming upon another- much smaller -door.
One that even from here, he could tell lead to the exterior of the ship.
Yay. Climbing a ladder down the side of a Valuan ship.
"Aika...get the girl." Vyse whispered to his friend, as the pair hid in the back of the lifeboat bay. Dozens of the little craft surrounded them, while Alfonso and his Vice Captain stood at the rear of the ship. Valuan lifeboats were held in the stern of the warships, and the elaborate crest on the back was actually a hatch leading to the sky.
A hatch that was currently, and very noisily, falling. Perfect.
Or it would have been, if Vyse couldn't hear Alfonso over the roar of gears and the rushing wind outside.
"I've finished my own preparations...to dispose of a traitor." The Admiral's high voice was filled with malice and
amusement, as his Vice Captain spun in shock. "Oh don't act so surprised! I can hardly return to the Empress and tell her that I lost my ship in a
fair fight. No, there must be a scapegoat."
While the panicked, and clearly unarmed, officer backed up...Alfonso stalked forward. From his side, he drew a fancy Yellow moonstone rapier, pointing it squarely at the Vice Captain. Vyse couldn't see more than the edge of his face. But he could see the
grin upon it.
"Admiral, please! Reconsider what you're doing!" The Vice-Captain protested,
begged. He held his hands in front of him, clasped in surrender. "I--I won't tell anyone what happened!"
Alfonso laughed merrily, "Come now, you don't honestly expect me to believe that, do you? My reputation is at stake here, and I'm afraid sacrifices must be made." Stabbing forward with his blade, Alfonso stabbed the helpless man straight through without an ounce of hesitation. "Now kindly
die."
The Vice Captain gurgled something, and fell to the floor. Alfonso looked down on him, whipping his blade to the side to clean the blood from it. "Pitiful. Still, you had some use at the end. I'll make sure the Empress knows you were a traitor who---"
"Alfonso!!!"
Vyse had enough. He no longer cared about stealth. He charged forward, cutlasses held at the ready. Alfonso spun about, blue eyes wide with shock and...perhaps...a hint of fear.
"You murderer! What Admiral kills his own men?" Vyse continued to shout, raising his blades to bring them down on the Admiral. "I won't forgive you for this!"
Alfonso just curled his lip, though the fear never left his eyes. "I'm afraid I could care less what a mongrel thinks of me. Not that it really matters, either." The Admiral backed up, and raised his fingers to his lips. An ear-piercing whistle echoed through the bay, followed by a single shout. "Antonio!"
Slowing his pace, Vyse felt a chill on his spine. "Antonio?"
"Yes, I'm sure you'll be
fast friends." Alfonso raised his hand further, and brushed his hair back disdainfully. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I really must be going."
Before Vyse could so much as
move towards the coward, the bay doors- that he had seen out of the corner of his eyes -were bodily flung open. An utterly
massive Valuan Warrior Bull stood in the entrance. It snorted and pawed at the ground, beady black eyes looking for its master. A master who stood in a lifeboat, smiling smugly.
"Farewell, pest. I'd wish you luck, but..." Alfonso arrogantly flipped his hair, grinning evilly. "I'm afraid I really don't care. I can get another ship, and replace Antonio. I simply can't stand to be near you anymore."
Without another word, the Admiral blasted off into the sky, leaving his dying Vice Captain and Warbeast behind.
"Damnit!" Vyse ground out, even as he jumped to the side. Antonio had taken his momentary inattention to
charge.
The massive bull, clad in dull grey armor, practically rippled with muscle. Each footstep shook the
Cygnus beneath the beast. And Vyse knew that he could be crushed without effort.
How am I going to kill this thing? He mentally screamed, rolling to the side again. Antonio charged past him, slamming through lifeboats and splintering them like so much kindling. The bull snorted in frustration, and spun back around. It stomped on the ground, lowering for another charge.
"Vyse!"
Aika's voice rang clear and true, as her boomerang spun in and clonked the bull on the head. Antonio grunted, and shook his head to clear it, while the green moonstone weapon twirled back to its owner. Aika stood above the pale girl, her hands outstretched. Beneath her feet, a red runic circle was glowing
brightly.
"Keep it busy, I'm going to burn it!" She shouted, her voice strained by the need to concentrate. "Moons..."
Vyse tuned his friend out, and grimaced. He raised his cutlasses at Antonio, daring the bull to charge at him again. Antonio was only too happy to oblige. Pounding upon the deck, massive dents following each step, the bull charged right at Vyse. Praying to every single Moon that his friend knew what she was doing, Vyse did the only thing that came to mind. He couldn't stop the bull. He didn't think slashing its face would do any good.
So he coiled his legs and
jumped. Antonio snorted in confusion, as the Blue Rogue flew in a graceful arc, and landed on his back.
The confusion rather quickly changed to raging
anger. The bull began bucking in a desperate attempt to unseat the Rogue. Vyse cried out in frustration, his off-hand blade flying out of his grip when he was forced to fall to his stomach and hold on for dear life. Antonio practically jumped and bounded, destroying more lifeboats in a desperate attempt to get rid of Vyse. Who could only grit his teeth, his arms and legs tiring as he crawled forward.
His eyes had locked onto an opening in the armor, right where the neck was. If he could just...a little...
"Vyse! Move, now!"
He didn't even hesitate. Vyse let go of his grip on the raging bull and was tossed aside like garbage. He spun head over heels, his vision clouding...until he landed, painfully, inside a pile of crates. Groaning in pain, the Rogue's entire world spun, as a cry of pain echoed.
When his vision cleared, he saw Antonio
burning. His very armor alight, as the bull charged out over the open bay door, falling into the endless sky beyond it.
"Heh...heh...that took a lot out of me," Aika laughed weakly, swaying on her feet. "Wooooowwww, never do that again."
Vyse would have laughed, but he was rather distracted by punching his way out of his resting place. Wood fell around the Rogue, as he stumbled to his feet. After a quick glance to make sure Aika was fine, he sprinted over to the fallen Vice Captain.
Valuan or not, that man didn't deserve to die. Vyse fell to his knees by the man, frantically reaching into his pack. Even as his own aches and pains reminded him that he
probably needed to rest, he pulled out a little green crystal. It was a quirk of Green Magic. If you had a good focus, and a good mage, you could
crystalize spells. The one he held in his hand was the weakest of the Green School.
Even Sacri had its uses.
"Come on..." Vyse muttered, pressing the crystal into the man's gaping stomach wound. Vyse watched, unable to do anything else, as the bright green light suffused the man's body.
Before his eyes, the skin began to stitch itself together. The man's pained breathing slowly evened out...and didn't stop.
Thank the Moons...
Sighing in relief, Vyse gently pulled the soldier out of the way of the bay door, and propped him against an intact lifeboat. He left him resting there, and returned to his friend. Aika sent him a weary smile, and gestured at the girl next to her. "Want to take a look? She seems fine, even if her clothes are odd."
Now that he looked, the teenager couldn't dispute the point. Up close, the girl was a tiny little thing. Her body was thin and petite, covered in a white dress that covered everything except for her shoulders and a little part around her chest. Her almost deathly pale skin was only marred by three strange tattoos, one upon her forehead, and two on either shoulder. She...looked like no one he had ever seen before.
"I wonder where she's from?" Vyse asked aloud, eyes drifting over to Aika.
The redhead shrugged, biting her lip in thought. "I dunno, but we should probably take her with us. Whatever reason Valua had for wanting her couldn't be good."
As he looked at the unconscious girl, Vyse couldn't dispute the point...
*I'm choosing to interpret the nations as they are in game. Valua, being the 'Spain' analogue will use Spanish as 'Valuan'. The mid-ocean language is English, the Nasr language is Arabic...and so on and so forth.
Also, there we go. The proper first chapter.
Anyone who has played the game, will note the first major change here. To anyone reading this who hasn't, you'll see.
Also, it's entirely possible some of FSN Gilgamesh leaked into Alfonso's character. Trying to poke at my muse for the SI involves watching FSN, and...yeah. Alfonso is basically a (cowardly) amalgamation of all of Gil's negative traits, without any of his positives.
Anyway, to explain this entire thing: anyone who knows me, knows that Arcadia is, and always has been, my absolute favorite piece of media. Not Stargate, not Star Wars (username aside), not KC.
What has always stopped me from
writing anything for it, is how small the fanbase is. I know, and have known, that it would never get much interest. This, and the knowledge that my other stuff
does get attention, kept me from doing a novelization.
With work slowly killing me right now, I decided to go 'screw it' and make this. A novelization of the game, so mostly the same plot...though I will expand on the world and the last third will be where major changes crop up. Regardless, this- more than anything else I've written -is a pure vanity project. This is something I'm writing because I want to, more than because I expect a lot of activity.
Maybe I'll be proven wrong, but regardless, it's a very
personal project for me. It really is.
