CHAPTER 9

A temporary truce had seemingly taken place onboard the Golden Queen; especially between Alfred and Arthur even though no words were spoken between them. Nobody tried to attack the Columbian Navy lieutenant after Natalyas attempt and he relished the nonviolent atmosphere also silently promising not to do anything destructive. !et.

Alfred found out that setting all the stories about them aside the pirates were actually normal people. "he crew had force#fed him some kind of bread which looked like rocks and turned out to be scones made by Arthur himself. $t was tradition that a new person onboard was forced to eat them so that everyone will have a nice laugh %e&cept the captain who would make a sour face and curse them all to hell' at the following gastrointestinal struggle usually indicated by vomiting by the side of the ship. "hey were disappointed though when the navy lieutenant swallowed three whole scones without blinking and did not hurl afterwards. (veryone was so ama)ed that they did not notice the small smile on Arthurs face.

*n his second night onboard they invited Alfred in a small celebration of the captains birthday in the kitchens. $t was a night of drunken revelry and delicious food something that greatly surprised the blue#eyed man. +oth ,rancis and -ong cooked; their cuisine turned out to be both eye candies and mouth#watering. "he celebrator however was cooped up in his cabin and had been refusing to come out ever since the force#feeding episode. Alfred then found the perfect e&cuse to e&it the party and avoid ,ranciss blatant se&ual harassment.

-e walked to the captains .uarters with a /ug of rum in hand. 0hen he knocked nobody answered and when he pushed the door open he found Arthur asleep with his head cradled by his arms on his desk. 1ifferent maps and papers littered the desks surface. Alfred grinned. $f he could only take a closer look at those documents hed have a higher chance of manipulating the pirate captain into the perfect trap.

-e stepped forward and leaned to take a peek at the papers saw the different colored lines Arthur had made on the maps. -e was so close that he could almost smell peppermint in Arthurs breath. 2haking his head he followed one line with his ga)e and /ust when he was about to know the location the long arrow was pointing to3

I see someone snooping~

Alfred screamed.

4GAAAAAAAAAAA-5556

-e stumbled backwards. "he /ug he held slipped from his fingers and he reali)ed that the li.uid spilled onto his pants. 7ight on his crotch. "he horror of the reali)ation however didnt come anywhere near the horror of hearing the childlike voice speak again; this time in a singsong tone.

Little navy officer, Came to place a bet; He wants to kill the captain B t he wet his pants instea!~

42#2#2#2-8" 895 0#0-*(:(7 !*8 A7(56 the blue#eyed man yelled.

;uckily Arthur stayed asleep on the desk.

Look at him; so scare!~ the voice chuckled.

+efore Alfred could shout again icy vapor erupted from a cabinet behind the desk and settled near his feet. "he mist slowly crept upwards forming legs a torso and finally a head. 0hen the swirling stopped Alfred could see a translucent man towering over him. $t took all his willpower not to faint again.

4"rivyet Alfred ,. <ones. $ am $van +raginski resident spirit of the #ol!en $ een.6 the translucent man greeted.

"he navy officer only gaped at him like a dying fish.

4$ am here to warn you= human beast or undead someone is yet to hinder me from protecting Captain >irkland at all costs. 2o you will stop plotting his demise !a?6

2hit. $t was so unfair that the pirate had a freaking ghost as a protector.

4$#$#$@$A N*" A,7A$1 *, !*8 G-*2"5556 Alfred screeched and promptly threw the nearest ob/ect at $van= the empty /ug of rum.

As e&pected it sailed right through the spirit.

4-(;; +( -ANG(1 2**N5 AN1 $" 0$;; +( +(CA82( *, A(5 $;;36

WHAT THE BLOODY FUCK???!

Alfreds head whipped around and he saw Arthur already standing by the desk. "he green#eyed man was holding his head in pain.

4Arthur?56

4!*8?56

4-im5556 Alfred stood up too and pointed but the space $van had occupied was already empty.

40-A" "-( +;AB(2 A7( !*8 9;A!$NG A"?5 AN1 -*0 1$1 !*8 G(" $N?5 AN1 0-!36Arthurs rant was cut short when his ga)e went lower.

Alfred reali)ing it instinctively covered his crotch with his hands.

"hey both went red.

4$36

4!ou36

48hm36

4%hem3GET THE HELL OUT OF MY OFFICE, GIT!!!6

"he blue#eyed man ran away as fast as he can ducking to dodge the lantern thrown at his head.

###

-is dream was a whirlwind of images.

"here was ice and snow and long silvery hair suddenly catching fire and turning short auburn red. -e followed the hair with his ga)e; auburn red that reached only the shoulders of a woman whose back was turned to him. "he lady shifted to face him but his mind could not register her features only her eyes were important. (merald#green eyes that could see right through his soul and when he stepped back in fear the person facing him was Arthur. -is green eyes looked ahead blankly and his face was that of a soulless man. ,ire burst from beneath the pirates feet and Alfred could only watch in morbid awe as the flames licked at the man before swallowing him completely.

A deafening e&plosion /olted Alfred into consciousness.

"here was some kind of commotion outside his cabin and when he threw open his door he was greeted by the view of the pirate crew scuffling in different directions.

4CA9N5 $"2 "-( &'()*%(+,56 somebody shouted. 4AN1 2-( -A2 "0* *"-(7 G8N+*A"2 0$"- -(756

4"(;; A( "-($7 +;**1! ;*CA"$*N56 Arthurs voice answered.

$t turned out that nobody needed to for as soon as he had spoken another earsplitting crash rocked the ironclad ship. (veryone aboard was sent tumbling to his knees. A huge warship loomed before them by the starboard side in no time followed by two smaller but decidedly not weaker vessels their cannons smoking.

-e made it.

Alfred had managed to make the Golden Queen rende)vous with the >onstan)e naively. Arthur >irkland and his crew were trapped.

4"hat bloody@JONES!!!6

"he navy officer looked up to see Arthur glaring daggers at him from an open upper deck.

Alfred gave him a sneer.

4!*8 0$;; 7(G7(" "-$2 !*8 "*22(756 the green#eyed man shouted but did not

advance towards him. $nstead he focused on barking orders at his panicking crew long strings of curses running out of his mouth.

497(9A7( "-( +;**1! CANN*N25 0(;; ,$G-" +AC>5 N* 0(7( N*" G*$NG "* ,8C>$NG 78N A$>-A$;5 ,7ANC$2356

4*h you must feel so betrayed and so angry to call me by my name36

42-8" "-( ,8C> 895 $ 2A$1 7(A1! "-( G8N256

+ut the enemys three ships were closing in fast firing at them repeatedly mercilessly. Alfred was awed at how the navys ammunition /ust slid off the pirate ships hull unable to penetrate it like it usually does if the hull was made of timber. "he cannon balls left dents though and each impact reverberated three times more painfully in the ears.

Now if only he can make the >onstan)es crew see him before they fire too high and accidentally break his bones with the shells.

-is in/ured shoulder was suddenly gripped firmly causing him to wince. -e was roughly forced to turn around and a huge fist made contact with his /aw. -e was sent sprawling to the ground.

41*N" "*8C- -$A5 -(2 A$N(56

Alfred opened one eye to see Ale/andro stepping back away from him at Arthurs orders. "he pirate captain then ran towards them.

4Aan the guns5 1idnt you hear me the first time?5 $ll personally take care of this one.6 Arthur promised menacingly each word laced with venom and the other pirate obeyed leaving the two of them.

"he blue#eyed man will never admit that he was slightly relieved but when Arthur pulled a sword from a sheath hanging by his belt he reacted in panic. -e tried to pull himself up but the green#eyed man stomped a foot on his hurt shoulder. Alfred let out a small scream of pain.

4!ou will regret the very moment you started planning this you.fucking.bastard.6 the pirate hissed.

Arthur leaned forward and added more weight onto his leg. -is victim gritted his teeth but forced his eyes open to meet him eye to eye.

4!#youre@the@bastard@&irklan!@6 Alfred was able to say. 4And youre@all@going to@die.6 -e could see pure rage fill those emerald eyes and then pain shot up his head as he was pulled up by the hair. "he sword was pressed against his neck and the shorter man whispered one last time into his ear.

4!es but $m afraid you will have to wait longer for that. In h !!.6

+ut the pain of having his throat sliced open never came.

2omething white and blue rammed into Arthur and sent him flying backwards /ust before a burst of white#hot flames flew from the right. Alfred felt his body burn as the fiery bla)e passed him by; he had avoided being incarcerated /ust by mere inches. Arthur on the other hand would have been fried to death if it werent for his savior who turned out to be Natalya.

A huge shadow wove in and out of the pirate ships deck and for a moment Alfred wondered what it was. "hen the shadow multiplied by two and he reali)ed that something must be flying overhead.

"he blue#eyed man craned his head and looked up to see@

4DRAGONS!!! a chorus of screams echoed.

"he two colossal li)ard#like creatures flew high up in the air in circles as if in search of something. "heir scales glinted like deadly blades in the sunlight and their massive wings beat powerfully as they fought to keep themselves airborne. (ach human in all four ships was so stunned by their appearance that the cannon fire had immediately ground to a halt. "hey all stared in awe of the dragons magnificent colors= one silver one gold.

"hen from inside the Golden Queen a small black creature )oomed up and into the sky.

NO!!! EINION!!! Arthur yelled.

"here was a mighty crack5 and in a blink of an eye (inion had transformed into his full si)e in the air. "he green#eyed mans shout has apparently attracted attention however as the golden dragon turned his long neck in the direction of the sound.

$t dived.

Aany things happened at once.

"he now huge black dragon met with his golden foe with a sickening thud and was sent spiraling away only to get blasted by the third dragons fiery breath. "he two small gunboats in the sea began steering in reverse in hopes of avoiding getting burned to death. "he commander of the >onstan)e ordered his crew to stay firm his red eyes gleaming in determination.

"he golden dragon undisturbed by the previous obstacle raced towards the pirate ship

its eyes trained on Arthur. *nly a few meters away from collision it opened its mouth. Natalya curled her body over Arthurs protectively and let out an uncharacteristic small whimper.

"hen it rained fire.