The Ashlanders - Chapter 6: The Blind Man's Last Gambit (Closed, Started)

[The Funslinger]

Bryan knew that he couldn't get caught. Fourteen year old kid or not, he knew the banditos wouldn't be merciful if they found him in their mansion. He considered turning back and going to explore the rest of Boomhower. He had gone to hell and back convincing his uncle to let him come out to Boomhower. Anything was better than being cooped up in that house with a bawling mother, and a father likely as not to throw bottles at him. And he couldn't stay out on the streets in Maddingham. The nobles were still looking for him after he'd been spotted running away with silver statuettes stuffed up his shirt.

He'd just wanted to get away, and the things he'd found wandering the new places here were delightfully interesting. But that big house had been too tempting. He had to try.

Pushing through a thinning patch in the huge hedge wall, Bryan crept up to the house. No doors on this side. He could probably jimmy a window open and--

"I'm telling you, Javier, I heard rustling."

"It's probably just a stray dog pissing in the bushes, you cabron..."

"Shit!" Bryan muttered. Boosting himself up on an empty plant pot, he jammed his fingers between a row of bricks where the mortar had worn thin. Reaching up, he seized the window sill and pulled up further. He could hear footsteps crunching on gravel now, and he was very aware that whoever came around the corner wouldn't have to look far up to see his kicking legs. Desperately, he got them on the wall and walked them up, twisting and nearly falling trying to turn his grip on the sill. Eventually, he was doing a handstand in the frame of the tall window, looking down into the garden below as two men, cradling sub machine guns, came around the corner.

"See, man? Nobody here. So what was I saying?"

"Some shit about Stevie."

"Oh yeah. Dipshit really fuckin' did it this time, I'm telling you."

"Accidentally shot someone, I heard." They were passing back the way they'd come from now.

"Oh yeah. Forgot to put the safety on or some shit..." they were gone. Bryan let out a sigh of relief. His arms were burning. Gradually, he walked his feet down the inside of the window arch and got them back underneath him. Sat on the window ledge, it was a simple yet complex matter of turning to actually face the window. Then he pulled out the hairpin and started working the lock. Eventually though, he was stepping through into a lavishly decorated room. "Jesus fuck..."

As much as the various odds and ends around the room tempted him, silver and gold covered as they seemed to be, they were all either small time value or too big to get away with. For a break in like this, he needed... better.

Eventually he found it. A lock box under the bed. The box itself was too big and heavy, but if he could get inside it...

It took a good ten minutes. The lock was much better than the one on the window, but Bryan was nothing if not adept at fiddling tumblers. Eventually, it was opened. As he had imagined, the box itself was weighted to make it a less tempting target. What was inside was a sack of carbon that made Bryan drool. In order to take it, he had to divide the contents into every pocket he had, and even then, he was pushing it. He headed towards the window, when he heard muffled sounds. The blossoms of colour across his vision, now mostly ignored, told him footsteps. They were becoming clearer too, and now there were raised voices. Angry. He thought there were a couple of walls still between him and them, courtesy of his strange condition. Thank fuck. He turned towards the window, and there was the bald man. The Cook, in the alley, Bryan's swords pinned under his foot. The gun went off. Everything dissolved.

Bryan woke up, gasping. He realized he was saying something. Something about grand kids. He shook himself and looked around. It was a drab hospital room, not unlike the one Tsubaki had occupied. There as a drip stuck in his arm, but whatever they'd had him on had run dry. There was a relentless ache just below his neck. He tried to look down and found he couldn't. Probing with his hand, he felt a neck brace. Reaching up, he found his nose was sore, but if it had been splinted, that had been taken off. It felt more or less normal. No more bumped than usual. Bryan supposed there were only so many broken noses you could have before they all blended together.

Sighing, he put his head back and reached for the nurse button. They might as well know he was back in the land of the living.

"Jesus fuck..." he muttered. Old memories, long abandoned, were flitting around his head.

 

[Fappy]

Bennie, Cameron and Brock spent the rest of the evening helping out where they could: treating the injured, getting food and water to the scattered populace and repairing damage to the ship with Ruffles, among other things. Between that and the fighting earlier, it had been a very long day. After the trio shared a drink, Brock wandered off to hunt some local tail, leaving Bennie and Cameron to wind down on the bridge. Bennie was sitting in the captain's chair with a bottle of whiskey in his hand while Cam sat across from him on the communications panel. After spending the last few hours sharing stories about the good old days, they agreed it was about time to turn in.

As they left the bridge, Cam smiled, "Hey, why don't we pay Aesop a visit real quick."

"Think he's awake at this hour?" Bennie was skeptical.

"No, I just want to see if he's okay."

Bennie grinned, "There's not a single thing about that guy that's 'okay'."

"Sure there is... he just has issues."

"Uh huh." Bennie shrugged, unconvinced.

After arriving at their destination, the pair made a sneaky entrance into the medbay. As expected, Aesop was sound asleep. Looking to Bennie, Cam smiled, "Hey, you go on ahead and get some sleep. You've been at it non-stop."

"What about you?"

"I am going to stay here for a bit. I feel bad for him... Pixie has so many people waiting on her. But Aesop... who does he have?" Bennie didn't have an answer for her. "I'll be fine. Get some sleep."

Bennie nodded, "Suit yourself. Just makes sure you sleep in a bed tonight, okay? We have a long week ahead of us. You need your rest too."

"Sure." Cam chirped before stepping into the room and sitting by Aesop's bedside.

Bennie smiled at her, "Good night, Cam."

Not long after Bennie had departed, Cam fell asleep in the chair next to Aesop's bed. Breaking her promise to Bennie just as soon as she had made it. She'd fallen asleep with a weak smile on her face.

At least Aesop would wake to find someone waiting on him in the morning.

***********************************************************************************************************************************************************

Bennie didn't sleep well that night. Not only had he taken residence in one of the most poorly furnished 'bedrooms' that night (the first one he found, as a matter of fact), but having spent the previous day killing child soldiers... well, let's just say his pragmatic nature only stretches so far. Despite that, Bennie was up and about the moment the twin suns rose. There was still so much to do, after all. He was nothing if not diligent.

After a brief shower, he made his way to Pixie's room and tapped on the door. Though he wanted to, he refrained from knocking a second time. His patience eventually paid off when a drowsy Sprout answered the door, "Hey Bennie." He muttered, rubbing his eye with his knuckle.

"'Sup kid? How's your mom doing?" He asked, his arms crossed over his chest.

Peering over his shoulder, Sprout shrugged, "She's exhausted." Sprout stepped out of the doorway so that Bennie could see her himself. She was out could, with an unconscious Lilith draped around her back. She always looked so peaceful when she slept. So... vulnerable. "Need some help with somethin'?"

"Nah, not right now," Bennie shook his head. "Just wanted to let y'all know we'll be taking care of the funeral prep. We can do it whenever your mom feels up to it."

Sprout nodded, "Thanks, Bennie. You want to come in?"

Bennie shook his head, "Nah, I've got work to do, sorry. Plus, I don't want to wake her when she's like that."

Sprout looked over his shoulder once more. He grinned, "Yeah."

"Later, kid." Bennie said as he turned on his heel and set out.

So much to do and so little time to do it...

Bennie could have easily spared the time for them, but it would have been too painful. As much as he had wished for it, he knew the happy family in those photos was nothing but an old memory. A fantasy. His expression hardened as he put on his breathing mask and stepped out into the warm, morning air.

Once Bennie was gone, Sprout crawled back into bed. He was always a fan of sleeping in. Still unconscious, Pixie's maternal instincts kicked in the moment she felt him nearby, causing her to reach out and pull him in close once more. Sprout chuckled to himself as a thought occurred to him.

The dreaded Bandit Queen was a shameless cuddler.

**********************************************************************************************************************************************************

The visit with Jun had put a sour stain on an otherwise brilliant morning. After scarfing down a quick lunch in the mess hall, she got a page that Bryan had woken up. That's where she was headed now. She hadn't seen him yet and was prepared for the worst.

Upon arriving at his room, she knocked on the door, "May I come in? It's Tsubaki."

 

[The Funslinger]

"May I come in? It's Tsubaki."

"Major O'Lafferty is currently undergoing post-surgical evaluation," the stern voice of a doctor replied. "You will have to come back later."

"Fuck that," replied Bryan. "It's open, Tsubaki."

"Major O'Lafferty, do I need to remind you again who the doctor is here?"

"Ya can if ya want," Bryan replied. "But if it's an evaluation you're wanting, how about I get outta this bed and we can evaluate how well I kick your wrinkly arse?"

There was a tense silence.

"I'll... come back later," the doctor replied. Turning on his heel, he opened the door and filed out past Tsubaki without another word.

"I wish he'd given me my pain meds before I kicked him out," said Bryan when Tsubaki came inside. He laughed, but ended up coughing hard enough to wrack his body. "Ah well," he said after eventually mastering himself. "How ya been, Tsu?"

A wave of concern washed over Tsubaki's face as she took in the Irishman's condition. He was a mess, "Bryan..." She muttered as she slowly approached his bedside. Holding out her hands above him, she wasn't sure what to do to him. How she could possibly comfort the man without hurting him further. She searched his body and face frantically. "I'm so sorry..."

Bryan blinked. "Sorry fer what? That ya got ordered to stay behind? That I got into a scrap?" He grinned. "Don't be silly. Besides, I gave as good as I got." His smile widened. "He only went'n shot me 'cause I had him on the ropes. I'm pretty fucken happy with how it panned out."

"I'm not!" Tsubaki pouted. "You should never be happy about getting shot, Bryan. Christ... what did he do to you?!" There was a perfectly good chair behind Tsubaki, but she refused to sit down.

"Shot me in the clavicle apparently," said Bryan. "After we'd broken each other's noses, o' course. I got him in the leg before I conked out, though. And o' course Jun were fucken useless up close." He rolled his eyes, before becoming at least a little more serious. "Poor bastard. Saw his wrists go, I did. But look, Tsubaki, I'm fine. Ya don't need to treat me like I'm made o' glass, alright?" He neglected to mention that a section of his clavicle had been replaced with fiber-glass. That would only worry her.

"Yeah," Tsubaki wore a wry smile. "You're a tough son of a *****." She glanced around the room. "Can I get you anything?"

Bryan smiled again. "Not unless you're packing codeine or morphine anywhere on ya. Just sit down. Ya look like you're about to take off through the ceiling."

He thought she looked different, somehow. More relaxed, in spite of the situation.

"Oh, okay," Tsubaki muttered, slightly embarrassed. "Sorry, I'm a bit... frazzled, I guess. They treating you well in here?" She asked as she took her seat.

Bryan shrugged awkwardly with his neck brace. "Guess so. Apparently I woke up during surgery." He frowned. "I... think I remember that. Not particularly lovely. But aside from that, it's been alright. So where's Ass-hole? Don't tell me they got him too."

"Oh shit, you don't know anything, do you?" Tsubaki scratched her head. "Jun's fine, I saw him a couple hours ago. Asad and Mila captured Lady Maribel and the assassin. The others got away. Asad's been assigned to watch over the young noble until the wedding."

"Captured Lady Maribel, eh?" Bryan replied. "Interesting choice o' words there, Tsubaki. But at least we're protecting her from assassins this time."

"Oh," Tsubaki blushed. "Slip of the tongue, you know what I meant."

Dammit, Dio...

"Yeah yeah," said Bryan. "So we got the Cook, huh? Guess I softened him up fer the others."

Tsubaki chuckled, "Maybe. He's still alive as far as I know. No idea where they took him though."

Bryan grimaced. "Probably somewhere dark and not very warm," he said. "So what's the plan fer when I dance on outta here? Get the old band back together? Replace Jun with a tripod and a string?"

"I wish," Tsubaki sighed. "You and Jun are on medical leave until you fully recover. In the meantime Samsara is temporarily disbanded. I'm working on Basilio's personal security detail and Asad's on Maribel's."

"That reminds me," said Bryan. "Where's my visit full o' creepy undertones from the big man himself?"

Tsubaki simply looked at him, a solumn frown on her face. She didn't appreciate his humor one bit.

There was a silence. Bryan broke off eye contact and looked along the bed at his feet. "Erm... sorry. Mouth runs away with the voice in my head like the dog runs away with the spoon."

Tsubaki leaned forward and clasped her hands together. Letting her eyes wander around the checkered tile floor before her, she shrugged, "Don't worry about it." After a brief moment, she looked back up at him. "You sure I can't get you a coffee or something? Are you allowed to have coffee?"

Another approximation of a shrug. This one set off a lance of pain that made Bryan wince. "Don't know," he said. "Guess ya could do one thing for me. I was gonna ask Asad, but it sounds like he's occupied."

Tsubaki perked up, "Sure, what is it?"

"Well it's boring as week old shite here," said Bryan. "I, uh... back at the barracks in my footlocker, I think under my clothes and shit, there's a book. Only one in there. Reckon ya could drop that off next time you're free to swing by?"

He blushed uncharacteristically. "If ya don't mind going through my skivvies'n shit."

Tsubaki cocked an eyebrow, "Buried in a place you know I would never look, huh? What is it, a diary?"

"No, it's not that," Bryan replied. "And it's only 'cause living in a room with two other lads, all yer shit kinda gets stuffed in one place. It's uh... one o' them Potter novels from way back when. You know, there's a print house in Calico. Got it from there a few years ago."

The woman put a finger to her chin as she sturggled to recall the name, "Nope, never heard of it."

If it was at all possible, Bryan went even redder and started looking at the lamp next to him. "Well it's about this kid what finds out he's a wizard and he goes to this school fer wizards, in a big castle, like. The one I got's called Goblet o' Fire."

"Is that so?" A genuine grin appeared on the woman's face. "I figured you'd be more a fan of those male power fantasy books. You know: fast women, heavy drinking and lots of guns."

Bryan shrugged, scratching his beard. "Loada shit, they are," he muttered. "Books are like... fer taking ya to another world. If I all there was were more sluts and drinking and guns, I think I'd fucken kill myself."

"Yeah right!" Tsubaki scoffed. "Are you telling me the Bryan I have known all this time is a fake?"

Spoiler: This song again

Bryan frowned at his feet. "Don't know. Have always drank, me. The women..." he shrugged. "At any rate, guns just gimme a headache 'cause of uh..." he tapped the side of his head. "Makes the flashes o' colour really uncomfortable."

Tsubaki's smug grin quickly evaporated, "Bryan, I didn't mean to... are you okay?"

"Don't know," he repeated. "You ever feel like everything you ever done or said is a loada ol' shite so you don't have to look at yerself?" He closed his eyes, and saw the pool, with the crashed car burning. The scantily clad woman in the bowler hat watching him drift on the water.

Tsubaki clenched her jaw and looked out through Bryan's window, "Yeah... sometimes."

'Now I remember why mum walked into the lake with her pockets full o' rocks! echoed Bryan's own voice in his head, followed by the mingling laughter of him and Beard. It wasn't particularly amused, in retrospect.

"I coulda done better..." he mumbled, more to himself than Tsubaki.

"You know," Her eyes meandered a bit before she continued. "I felt that way too when I was... shot. I mean, don't get me wrong, you clearly got it worse but... I don't know. I guess I figured out that I'm not as sure of myself as I thought I was. I don't regret many things I've done. It's more about what I haven't done, I think."

"Mmmhmm," Bryan replied. "Thanks fer coming by, Tsubaki." He looked back up at her. "I hope ya don't mind getting that book fer me. I uh... I reckon I'm gonna get my meds and sleep fer a while if ya don't mind."

Tsubaki offered an understanding smile. It was soft and warm, but a bit sad, "Of course." She got to her feet and walked over to the door. "Get better soon, O'Lafferty." Before leaving the room, she added. "That's an order."

Bryan tapped two fingers to his temple in a casual salute as she left. "Aye, ma'am."

When she was gone, he closed his eyes, pinched the bridge of his nose and groaned. He was so tired.

 

[Daystar Clarion]

Spoiler: Toonage

Lilith awoke silently, a small smile curling her lips when she realised where she was.

She couldn't remember the last time she had such a good night's sleep, the feeling of waking up refreshed was almost a lot concept to her. Kissing the back of Pixie's head, Lilith slid her arm deftly from beneath the woman propping herself up with her elbows, she move her head from side to side as she loosened the stiffness in her neck.

Lilith turned her head to look at her two favourite people in the world, sleeping peacefully together. The look on both their faces was so serene, she felt happier just looking at them. Smiling warmly, she slid from out of the bed, rotating her shoulder as she quietly left the room, closing the door gently behind her.

Walking further down the corridor, the girl yawned again as she stretched her arms over her head. Entering her room, she used the bathroom and brushed her teeth. Not bothering to get changed, Lilith picked up her cigarettes and lighter before leaving her room.

Lighting up a smoke as she headed towards the dining area, Lilith didn't realise how much she missed the cold floor of the ship on the bottom of her feet.

"Alright, honey, I've been on ships before and the mess hall is usually just down here," said Whiskey, leading Millie by the hand. They had both slept in their clothes and looked fairly disheveled, though Whiskey had brushed her hair back into something like its former glory.

After leaving the Captain's room, Whiskey had found a disused room with a bed and a sofa for her and Millie. Giving Millie the bed, she had thrown herself on the sofa and slept under her coat.

"You went on ships before, mommy?"

"Yeah, baby."

"Cool! This place is cool! Can it take us anywhere?"

"Anywhere in the world, Mil."

"Wow!"

They turned the corner, bringing a familiar set of double doors into view. Just in front of them was a platinum blonde haired girl that Whiskey thought wasn't too shabby. Surprisingly, Millie burst into life.

"Oh hey! Blonde lady! Hey blonde lady!"

Lilith was in the middle of scratching the back of her head as another yawn escaped her mouth, almost squeaking when a high-pitched call echoed through the corridor. Tilting her head she turned to look at the source of the noise, Lilith was surprised to see a familiar face.

'She brought the kid too?!'

"Oh hey... you!" Lilith laughed nervously as the little girl's face lit up. "How's, er... things?" She clenched the cigarette between her teeth as she smiled awkwardly.

"Huh, I guess you'd be Lilith," said Whiskey. She remembered the portfolio she'd gotten on the Maidens for the exchange, but she hadn't actually seen this one there. Presumably, she'd been hiding. Probably in a sniper position.

"I should be surprised my daughter randomly knows you, but after all this crazy shit, ain't nothing phasing me right now."

Lilith continued to chuckle nervously. "Hah, yeah, been a crazy last few days alright." She looked down at the girl who was still beaming up at her.

"Be careful not to go wanderin' around here on your own, it's a lot easier to get lost than in your apartment block." She blew smoke from the corner of her mouth as she looked back up at the woman. "Sorry about that whole...hostage... thing."

Oh god, why was she so bad at this?

"Well I don't know what you think you have to apologise for," said Whiskey. "But you can make it up by showing us where the hell the food is. We're starving, here!"

As they headed to the door, she added more quietly, "and if I could bum a cigarette off ya, that'd be awesome. Ain't had a chance to stock up in a while."

"Sure." Lilith smiled as she plucked a cigarette from the pack in her hand, offering it to the woman. "You need a light, or... ?"

"Nah, I got that," said Whiskey, taking the cigarette and producing a zippo from inside Eddie's old coat. "So many times ya make molotovs and have nothing to light 'em. Thanks." She snapped the lighter open and set the flame to the tip.

"Oh fuck the hell yes," she breathed, smoke rising from her mouth. Fortunately, Millie was out of earshot for all of this, as she was exploring the huge, empty mess hall.

Lilith couldn't help but feel a little on edge around Whiskey. She seemed friendly enough, the girl was sweet. Ah hell, it was just good to see someone oblivious to all the shit that had been happening over the last few days.

"She's a great kid." Lilith smiled warmly as she nodded towards the girl. "She never told me her name."

"Millie," replied Whiskey, taking the cigarette out of her mouth. "Millie Canton. Fuck that Fifer shit."

"Not a fan?" Lilith chuckled. "Millie. I like Millie, she looks like a Millie." Lilith closed her eyes as she shook her head. "Sorry if I sound like a blabbering idiot, I'm not the sharpest first thing in the morning." She rubbed the back of her neck as they approached the food serving area. The place was practically empty, but there was always someone on to cook the first few batches of hot food in the morning. Everyone else must have been working late on cleanup.

"Ah, nobody is," said Whiskey. "But yeah, she only has my last name so the boss man didn't think..." she waved it off. "Ain't important. What we need here is some god damn coffee, am I right?"

"There's alway coffee." Lilith grinned as she nodded at a few canisters further down the food line. "Tea is the bloody hard one." She shrugged her shoulders. "Live here eight years, and I still can't get a damn pot of the stuff without asking for it." She frowned as she looked around whoever was on kitchen duty. "I bet the bastard went back to bed, the sod." She sighed. "Coffee it is."

When they each had a steaming cup in front of them and had sat at a table, while Millie sipped a hot chocolate, Whiskey said, "so, ah... it seems me and my girl are gonna be sticking with you guys for a while. New crew, if you wanna be that bold."

"I heard" Lilith smiled. "It's... gonna be quiet around here for a while yet, I think." She grimaced distastefully as she took a sip of her coffee. "At least Sprout ain't the youngest on the ship anymore." She smiled as she glanced at Millie, who had already developed a chocolate moustache.

"Yeah, but you'll outrank him anyway, won't ya, Millie?" said Whiskey, tousling her daughter's hair.

"Yeah!" chirped Millie. "Sprout is a silly name."

"Yes it is." Lilith chuckled. "Be sure to tell him that, he loves it when people tell him that." She stubbed out her cigarette, blowing the smoke away from the table as she looked at Millie. "Clever kid." She smirked as her eyes returned to Whiskey.

Whiskey smiled. "Yeah, she's my little genius."

"Hey mom?"

"What's up, honey?"

"I'm hungry."

Whiskey nodded. "Yeah, me too. I think I see some cereal in that crate over there."

"I can get it, mommy!" Millie exclaimed.

"Alrighty then," she replied. "I'll let ya take care of it."

Whiskey watched her daughter race across the room and smiled. "Sorry if I seem kinda... I dunno, oblivious to all of this." She waved her hand, taking in their surroundings. The indication was clear enough. "Just kinda hard to be down on anything when I have my daughter back. Part of me thought I'd never see her again."

Lilith's eyes softened. "Don't worry about it, I've been in Feroxi for the last few weeks, like you know." She averted her gaze. "I'm glad the boy missed all... this." She shrugged her shoulders. "I just wish so many people didn't have to die, you know?"

Watching Millie clumsily retrieve her breakfast, Lilith smiled. "If I had been here, I don't think I could have... done, what everyone did."

"Yeah, I wasn't part of the uh... main event," Whiskey replied. "I had the cushy job, evacuating the city with Ruffles and Amy. Most of the 'children' down there were the older ones anyway. Thank fuck."

"I guess being a mother makes it even worse, seeing all these kids just being manipulated like that." She furrowed her brow. "You said you thought you'd never see Millie again, was she... was she with Austin?" The girl's eyes fell on Millie. "It doesn't seem to have phased her at all."

Whiskey stared into her coffee for a while. "Yeah... Payton took her to keep me in line after he made me..." there was a silence. "Anyway, turns out the safehouse he stashed her in was right here in Yuteni. So one thing led to another. I come up to the ship while things are winding down and find Bennie looking after her. I had no idea she was here before that."

She looked up to watch Mille trying to walk across the mess hall with three heaping bowls of cereal in her arms. "Can't tell ya how glad I am that psycho didn't mess her up. She really is amazing sometimes."

At this point, Millie made it to the table. "One for you, one for you, and one for me!" she said, stretching on the tips of her toes to put the bowls on the table. "Hey blonde lady, where's the milk?"

"My name's Lily, Millie, see it rhymes." She rested her elbow on the table, resting her cheek in her palm, she smiled at the girl. She was glad that at least one kid made it out.

"Milk is over there." She pointed at a pitcher on a neighbouring table. "Pretty sure it's powdered stuff though, so don't expect it to be any good."

"Okay, Liiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiilly!" replied Millie, running over to the table with the pitcher.

"Just wish her dad could see her now," Whiskey said when she thought Millie was out of earshot. However, Millie quickly came back with the milk and said, "but mommy, I saw daddy."

Whiskey choked on the coffee she had been in the process of drinking. "You... you what!?"

Millie nodded. "Yeah, he was in a... hospikal gown in bed. I recognized him from your picture and 'cause he had that hand you said about. It was when I went to the moustache man's house."

"... Oh."

"Did I do something wrong, mommy?"

Whiskey blinked. "No, no! You didn't do anything, baby, don't worry." She stroked her daughter's hair. "Mommy was just surprised, that's all."

Lilith raised an eyebrow. "That's... good, right?"

Lilith noted the woman's eagerness to change the subject, looking down at her bowl of cereal as she poured the milk. "I'm not sure." Lilith chuckled. "I don't really do much around here either, I don't really sleep that much, so I usually take early watch shifts, but I'm useless with tools and I can't cook." She bit her bottom lip as she looked to the side. "why do they keep me around?" She muttered. "But hey! If you wanna do anything, I can keep an eye on Millie, there's something I can do!"

"I'll keep that in mind," said Whiskey, smiling. "Just don't be teaching my girl any bad habits. You teach her to gamble, you make sure she keeps her cards close to her chest!"


"Of course." Lilith scoffed as she lifted a spoonful of cereal to her lips. "You wanna do that Millie?" She shifted her eyes to the girl. "Wanna learn how to win people's money on frivolous bets?"


"Yeah!" said Millie. "I wanna take 'em for all they got!"

Whiskey laughed, accidentally snorting more coffee. Pounding her chest, she got herself back under control. "Where'd you hear something like that, Millie?"

"From you, mommy," Millie replied primly, drinking more hot chocolate.

"Hah!" Lilith grinned as she took another bite of cereal. "Mummy's been busted."

"Guess I have," said Whiskey. "But hey, I know your rep, Casino. My girl here needs something to level the playing field. Be right back."

With that, she got up and left. Millie chewed her cereal thoughtfully, before asking, "hey Lily, what's a casino?"

A curious look on her face, her eyes followed whiskey, before she got distracted by Millie. "Well, you see." She placed both her elbows on the table, resting her chin on the back of her laced fingers. "A casino is a place where people go to gamble money, by playing cards or other games, hoping that they get more carbon back than what they gambled, does that make sense?"

"I think so," said Millie. "But if everyone wins, the casino would run outta carbon." She was silent for a few moments.

"The casino should cheat," she concluded with a nod. "Is that why they call you casino, Lily? 'Cause you cheat like them?"

"That's the thing, not everyone wins, you see, games at casino are usually skewed in favour of the people who own it." She sighed. "And no, I don't cheat, people always say that, I'm just... lucky, is all." A sad smile curled her lips. She didn't feel all that lucky as of late.

"So they do cheat! That's another way of saying they cheat, right?" asked Millie. "I'm right, aren't I?"

"No, they don't cheat, who would go to a casino if they cheated?" Lilith chuckled. "Although, they don't like it when people win, either. See, I used to win a lot, I'm not allowed in a lot of casinos now, because they think I cheated."

"Oh, okay," said Millie. "So you're gonna teach me how to get kicked outta casinos, too?"

With that, Whiskey came around the corner, with Eddie's hat in her hand. "Got it," she said. "If you're gonna beat Lilith here, you're gonna need this lucky hat!" She put the hat on her daughter's head, where it rested for a moment before falling over her eyes.


Lilith smiled warmly as the girl peeked from under the brim of the huge hat. "You can't really 'teach' someone how to be lucky at cards, but we can bloody try, right?"

"That's what the hat's for," said Whiskey. "The fact bullets have never touched that thing is some kinda Jesus work, I'm telling ya!"

"Lucky hat, huh?" Lilith furrowed her brow as thought came to her. "Maybe lucky things are enough?" She for the poker chip that hung loosely around her neck, lifting it over her head, she piled the chip with its cord in the brim of the hat.

"Wow, that's so cool!" said Millie, taking the chip in her hands. "Look, mommy! It's been emineled!"

"Enamelled, dear," said Whiskey, grinning. "You sure you wanna give that up, Lil? I bet it means a lot to ya."

Smiling warmly, Lilith nodded her head. "I have other things to remind me of how lucky I am." She ran her a thumb over her new scar. "I'm starting to find that it becomes more of a crutch, the older I get." She winked at Millie. "So let the young take advantage of it while they can."

Millie scowled in confusion. "How does a poker chip become a crotch?" she asked, baffled.

Both women started howling with laughter.

 

[Evrant-Knight]

It had been a few years since Viola ever actually went there in person, as they conducted most of their business in the open air. An hour or so later, she'd arrived at his office, which overlooked one of the numerous marketplaces dotted throughout Feroxi. From what Viola could tell, Dante was having a very angry sounding conversation with someone.

"Hey, Dante, you in there? It's me Viola. I need some urgent help with a problem." Shouted Viola as she hammered on the door.

There was a long pause before he called out to her, "You have an appointment?!" His voice was raspy and deep as if he'd just woken up.

"No... like I said Dante, it's urgent help that I need, and you're really the only person that I know who could help."

"Double." He croaked.

Suffice to say, Viola wasn't amused. "Are you kidding me? Double pay for an out of the blue house call? You don't even know what I want help with. Can I at least come in first?" She asked with haste.

"Fine, fuck!" He groaned. It sounded like a really bad hangover.

There was a few seconds of silence whilst Viola tried to turn the slightly rusted doorknob, but she eventually managed to get the door open and stepped inside, shutting the door behind her. Having a quick look around, she saw that the office hadn't changed much, though there was more filling cabinets with stacks of paper on top of them than she remembered. A cursory glance at Dante's desk revealed a small group of whiskey bottles piled up, with the man himself clutching a bag of ice on his forehead. After removing a few bits of paper from a nearby chair, Viola pulled it up to the desk and sat down.

"A fun night I take it?" Viola asked, examining one of the bottles.

"Well, when a literal war breaks out in your backyard people tend to start asking a lot of questions. Basilio's men paid me a few visits. At least they left me booze the last time they kicked my ass." He sighed. "What do you want?"

"You should probably look into some security then, but business decisions isn't why I'm here. No, the reason is that I need your help looking for someone, a friend in fact. And before you start laughing, though I don't think you're in any state to, yes I can make friends, after all, we're friends aren't we?" The question hanged in the air for a few moments before Viola carried on.

"Anyway, this friend of mine, Hannibal is his name left where we were staying last night, said he had to look for someone by the name of Beard, said this man knew things. Problem is, he didn't say where it was they were going to be meeting, and he hasn't come home yet. I'm worried for him Dante, with this whole backyard war going on, I'm fear something may have happened to him."

"Beard?!" Dante looked a bit shocked. "The hell was he doing with Beard?"

"To hell if I know Dante. Like I said, Hannibal went to Beard because apparently this guy knows things. What's the deal with him?"

"How much you willing to pay? I know something about Beard... not sure about the kid..."

"You know, Beard really isn't my concern, I just want to know where Hannibal is, if he's even still here, and if he's alive or dead. I was hoping you could have some people look around for him. However, if one will help the other, then perhaps I'd be willing to pay a little extra for your services."

Dante shrugged, "Possibly. If he went to find Beard yesterday then I may have some useful info for you. Shit hit the fan for that guy, so to speak. Often does, the way I understand it though."

Thinking about it for a moment, Viola figured that if she was ever going to find him, even for some closure, it probably help.

"You're lucky I have the funds Dante, recently pawned a half dozen pistols plus ammunition after some Bandits yesterday that been giving me and Hannibal trouble lately came to 'deal with me' so to speak. As you can see, they didn't do a good enough job by the fact that I'm here." She then pulled out a large handful of Carbon, and then placed it in front of Dante.

"So what happened?"

Dante eyeballed the carbon and nodded before speaking, "It happened at the Maid and Bear yesterday afternoon. Some guys come in looking for Beard. Basically a drug deal gone wrong. Shots are fired and a few guys end up dead. Word is Beard disappeared. No one knows where he's at."

"I see." Was all Viola said, a rather sombre look on her face.

God damn it Hannibal, why'd you have to get caught up in this? Just makes things worse. For all I know, you could be dead.

"It's something I guess. I know it's asking a lot, but could you please keep an ear to the ground, in case you happen to hear something regarding Hannibal. I'll tell you everything I know about him; given what he's been through, surprised he's still breathing."

"Yeah, sure. Tell me what you know." Dante leaned in closer.

"Thanks. Well Hannibal is a rather skinny looking man, I'd say late teens. He has a head of rather messy shoulder length grey hair, somewhat surprising for someone of his age, then again, I have ashen white hair. Looks as though he has Hispanic heritage. Personality wise, not very good around people, rather shy and nervous though I think he's slowly getting better, poor kid has been through a lot. Also, probably best not to make any physical contact unless necessary, gets a little skittish, not sure what the cause of that is though."

"If you find him, tell him that you or whoever you send is a friend of me, he'll probably be a little more welcoming, but still acting very cautious. Usually dresses in whatever rags he finds, though we did managed to get some proper clothes the other day, nothing fancy though."

Dante nodded, "Any known associates? Affiliations?"

"Aside from me and this Beard fellow? None that I know of. And don't mention the Gunderson Bandit Clan to him, they've chasing him for the better part of a week if memory serves after some botched job. They were the ones who tried to do me in."

"And what happened to them?" Dante cocked an eyebrow.

"Well, out of those that were sent, I reckon six of them are about six feet under by now. There was also a seventh that I didn't know about, the blasted bounder sneaked up behind me and knocked me unconscious."

"Uh huh." Dante looked sceptical. "And what happened to him? Why didn't he finish the job?"

"Beats me." Viola said with a shrug of the shoulders. "He must of gotten out of dodge after knocking me out. Maybe he thought what had happened would have been enough to put me out of commission for a while."

"Clearly he was wrong if you're out and about the next day. Did he steal anything? Do you know what he was after?" It was sounding more like an interrogation now.

"Like I've been telling you, the Bandits were likely sent to kill me or put me out of commission for a long time due to me being in their way in getting to Hannibal. Turns out that he accidentally may have killed a load of them, one of their bosses included during a fire fight between the Gunderson's and some drug dealers with some kind of explosive, though he didn't mean to."

"Hmmmmm." Dante didn't sound satisfied. "Sounds fishy, Viola. You take out some bandit's mooks and he doesn't kill you when he has the chance? I'd be careful. In fact, I'd leave this city as soon as possible if I were you. Whatever they had planned... I doubt they're finished."

For a moment, Viola's temper had flared up, she couldn't just leave Feroxi without knowing what happened to Hannibal, whether he's alive and escaped somewhere, or if he was dead, at the moment, she just wanted a little closure. She then stood up from the chair placed her hands on the table, and stared at Dante.

"Not until I know what's happened to him, whether he's alive or dead. I'll leave you with the address of the place I'm staying at; use that to contact me. If I don't hear anything in a week, I'll assume the worst and leave town for awhile, let the heat die down, and take a break from all this. Deal?" She then grabbed a scrap of paper and a pencil and jotted down the address of the hotel.

"As long as you pay for the work, I'll do it. Deal." He said, plainly.

"I guess that settles it then. Here, consider this part of the payment in advance." It was then that a small handful of Carbon came out of her pocket and onto the table with the rest.

"You'll get the rest either when I hear something, or when the week is over, whichever comes first."

"You're too kind." Dante grinned. "Good luck. Stay safe out there." He warned.

"You as well Dante, sure is a crazy world out there." Viola smiled as she said that before leaving the office.

"Just one more thing, might want to cut back on the booze, got to keep that sharp mind of yours in check."

Dante shook his head, "No can do, Viola. The booze's the only thing that can keep a man like me sane these days. We're not as hard as steel like you are."

"I'll take that as a compliment, though, I'm not as hard as people think I am..."

These last few days have shown that.

"...Anyway, be seeing you around." Viola remarked with a tip of her hat as she left the office.

 

[ProtoChimp]

Aesop's eyes slowly fluttered awake, his nightmares persisted through his haze. Silo judging him, Austin hurting him and killing his friends, Pixie hating him.

Murderer. Failure. Coward. Liar. Psychopath. Pussy. Outsider.

As his eyes adjusted to the sight of the dim light, he looked around, his mind barely registering he was awake as he grumbled.

 

[Fappy]

Amy was sprawled out across a bench in the temporary Wilkes-Vine's barracks, bottles of various different kinds of liquor strew around her, and what felt like a pitched artillery battle going on inside her head. She groaned as she sat up, before rolling over to the side and throwing up, for what must have been the third or fourth time. As she lay there, panting and spluttering, she tried to piece together what had happened since she left Pixie's side, with little success. She knew that she would have to go and get herself cleaned up soon. It wouldn't do her any good for anyone to see her like this. She thought she might leave it a few more minutes, however.

A little while after Bennie had woken him up, Sprout was up again. After rolling out of his mother's reach he glanced around the room. Lilith had left at some point from the looks of it. He gave his mom one last grin before throwing on his jeans and setting out.

A good night's rest was precisely what he needed. No doubt Bennie was already hard at work and Sprout didn't want to disappoint him. After securing his breathing mask he set out to look for someone he recognized. Surely they'd have something for him to do.

Not to far out from the main camp, Amy had found an abandoned building which, miraculously, still had a working shower. The water was cold, but perhaps that was exactly what she needed, as she stood under the jet, trying to wash away everything about last night that clung to her, both physically and metaphorically. There were no towels, unfortunately, and so Amy was still soaked and shivering after she had redressed.

As she stumbled out of the house, barefoot, her shoes having been misplaced somewhere she couldn't recall, Amy almost ran right into Sprout as he made his way down the street.

'shit!'

"Oh, hullo." she greeted him, the dull pit in her stomach from the last time she saw him returning with a vengeance. Her breathing mask concealed most of her shame, yet Amy still couldn't quite look him in the eye.

Sprout had been completely lost in his own world before Amy called out to him. He wouldn't have even spotted her if she hadn't, "Oh, hey." He replied half-heartedly. He wasn't sure what else he should say. Last night had been quite awkward.

"Hey." Amy repeated again, before realising a second later that they'd both just said that.

'Smooth.'

The silence hung there for several seconds, in which time Amy lowered herself to the ground and sat, huddled, on the front step. Eventually, she was forced to concede that there was no way out of this moment. Nothing was going to come along demanding Axel's urgent attention, the earth wasn't going to open up and swallow her, and time was not going to rewind itself to make the last 24 hours not happen. She had to say something.

"Where's your mother?" she asked, sullen, staring straight ahead. "How is she doing?"

Amy was still angry, and still convinced that she had every right to be, but that didn't mean she didn't care.

Sprout shrugged and kicked the dirt instinctively as he considered how to answer her. Forcing his wandering eyes on her, he spoke matter-of-factly, "She was a wreck las' night, but she's doin' much better now. She's still asleep as far as I know. She, uh..." He frowned under his mask. "She disappeared for a lil' over an' hour last night. Not sure where she hobbled off to, but when she got back she was covered in blood an' stuff. Her breath smelled like vomit. I was... afraid ta' ask, honestly."

Amy listened to what Axel had to say, and put two and two together. The pit in her stomach only got deeper.

'Dammit Pixie, why didn't you stop me? Why the hell didn't you just ask?!'

"I'm sorry you had to hear that, last night I mean." Amy told him. "I don't know how much you were there for, but... whatever my reasons, it wasn't my classiest moment. It's just, Pixie can be..." she hung her head. "Sorry. I'm not going to bad-mouth your mother in front of you, no matter what the reason."

Sprout nodded in silence. He understood where she was coming from even if he didn't quite grasp the situation the two women had found themselves in, "Like I said, she's a hard woman to love." His shadow enveloped her as he stepped forward. "She's my Ma' an' I love 'er more an' anythin' in the world. You two 'ave somethin' I don' understand yet, so I don' wanna make any assumptions but..." He sighed. "Don' hurt her."

Bending over, he held his hand out for Amy, "Now get up an' stop mopin'. Ma's easiest ta' deal with if ya' confront 'er directly. Wishy-washy tiptoin' only makes 'er anxious." Amy could see his smile in his eyes.

Amy took his hand, and found it in herself to smile back, if only briefly.

"I try, Axel. It just seems like whenever I do, I say the wrong thing, or else she does, and then we're right back where we started."

She looked away from him again.

"It's not that I'm asking to be put first, in everything she does. She's got priorities and responsibilities that I don't have, but... it's not a good feeling, being with someone who makes you think they care more about complete strangers than they do about you. Like, she's so fixated on this imaginary mass of people who are all crying out for her help, that she doesn't see that I'm right here, and I need her help. Am I supposed to think that's so brave and selfless? Because I don't. I think it's deluded and self-indulgent, and it hurts because she can make me feel better just by walking into the room, but I don't think there's anything I can do to make her feel like I'm enough..."

"I just can't stand having the woman I love look at me like I'm a... a child." she said eventually.

Sprout furrowed his brow and stared at her for a good long while before replying, "But... you are." He held his hand up to his chest, feeling his bullet wound and bowed his head. "An' so am I."

Normally, Amy would have resented such a reply. Normally she would have pulled away or lashed out. Coming from Axel, however, something struck home.

"Maybe I am," she answered "but that doesn't mean I want her to look at me like that. I mean, what does that say about us, if she can treat me like a kid in the light of day, and then at night she can..."

Amy stopped herself there, remembering just in time who she was talking too.

"That's... probably not where you want this conversation to go, is it?" she said, blushing under her breathing mask.

Sprout chuckled, "Am I that obvious? You know, she makes me hear this shit all the time? I reckon you can spare me the details."

"Yeah." Amy replied awkwardly. "Sorry. I'm normally better at the whole shy and demure routine than this, even if... well, you don't need to hear about that."

Why did her profession suddenly embarrass her now? It had been years since anybody had ever disrespected her for it, and Axel seemed unlikely to be one to break that streak. What was it about this boy that was making her seem so, unsure... and why did it not bother her when it came to him?

They were back on the Maiden when Amy realized she'd been staring at him, grinning rather gormlessly beneath her mask.

"I, um, there's some things I have to go and do, before I go and see her." she told him, excusing herself. "I promise, there won't be a shouting match this time."

"Good," Sprout nodded. His smile was finally visible now that their masks were off. "I don' reckon she'd appreciate wakin' up to that. Trust me." He winked. "Good luck, Amy."

It was some minutes later that Amy, fully washed up and dressed more presentably than before, turned up at the door to Pixie's room. Three sharp knocks announced her presence.

"Hey, it's me." she called. There was a pause before she continued "Can I come in?"

Pixie hadn't budged an inch since Sprout left her side. In fact, she didn't even know she was a lone in the room until she bothered to looked around. Grunting to herself, she flopped back over. With her face half sunk into her pillow and her eye closed, she groaned, "Come in." Despite how long she had slept she was still beyond exhausted.

Amy slipped inside, and stood just beside the door. She did not approach Pixie where she lay. She simply looked at her, her expression impossible to read. For a long while, she made no sound.

"Get dressed, and come with me." she said eventually. "There's something I need to show you."

Pixie opened her eye and looked up at the girl from where she lay, "Could use some help with that, honestly," She chuckled as she threw the sheets to the side. Grabbing the bottom of her t-shirt, she rolled it up to reveal her stomach. It was covered all over in thick, dark bruises. "Couldn' even 'old myself upright in the shower last night." She sighed.

Amy's expression softened when she saw the true extent of Pixie's injuries. She dearly wanted just to go an hold her, to put her back to bed, apologise for everything just for the sake of seeing her smile, and keep anyone else from disturbing her for as long as she could. This had to be done, however.

"Lean on me." she said, moving closer and putting Pixie's arm over her shoulder, helping her to her feet. By degrees, Amy got Pixie washed and dressed, looking somewhat presentable. When that was done, Amy supported her out of the room and down the hall, stopping just outside the canteen, where a short, olive-skinned girl with chestnut hair, that waved in a fashion very similar to Amy's, waited for them.

"Pixie, this is Sandra, my sister." Amy said, introducing them. Sandra smiled up at Pixie, nodding her head and bending her knees in a discreet little curtsy.

Pixie scoffed, "Aw, come on, girl! None of that fancy bullshit. Yer one of Amy's sister's, right? That means yer a friend. Come here." She beckoned her closer for a hug.

Sandra looked to Amy, unsure of herself, but she smiled when Amy gave her a nod of encouragement. She moved closer and embraced Pixie, taking care not to put too much pressure on her.

"It's an honour to meet you." she said.

"I hoped it would be alright if Sandra stayed with the Iron Maiden for the foreseeable future." Amy said to Pixie. "What will happen from there we can figure out later, but for now, I just want her to be somewhere where I know she'll be safe."

Pixie weathered the pain of the embrace through a toothy grin and rustled the girl's hair, "That'll do fine, I reckon. We're gonna be seein' a lot of new faces 'round here, so it'll be nice to have a few trusted newbies helpin' the others along." She locked eyes with the younger woman, but spoke to Amy. "She's a cutey"

"She is." replied Amy, solemnly. "Come on. There's something else."

Now with Sandra in tow, Amy supported Pixie as they limped out of the Maiden and through the Wilkes-Vine's encampment. It was a long walk throw the camp, until they came across a tent, hastily constructed, and conspicuous in its small size and its distance from all the others. Inside, was a slab, laid out in the centre of the space, with a black, plastic body bag rested on top.

Sandra paused at the entrance, frightened to go in. In the end, however, she took a sharp intake of breath, and followed the other two women.

"Pixie..." Amy began, as they stood at the foot of the table. "If I'd known you were going to go and..." he voice cracked. "Would-would you like to see her?"

Pixie wasn't sure exactly what was going on until Amy spoke.

She found her...

The woman chuckled softly and slapped her head forehead. A small tear glistened in the corner of her good eye, "God damn... I am such an idiot." Her stupid grin quickly sunk into a frown as her gaze remained fixed on the body bag. After a long pause, Pixie whispered. "Yes, please."

They hobbled around to the side of where the body lay. With her free hand, Amy reached across and unzipped the bag, her hands as smooth and gentle as if she were drawing back bedcovers.

Georgia's red hair did a good job of hiding the dried blood. That was a small mercy. Still, she looked wrong in death. The conspicuousness of the hole between her eyes aside, her skin was pale and shrunken, where it had once had a healthy ruddiness to it. Her eyes were the worst though. Those eyes that had once sparked with wit, now stared vacant and glassy up at the tarpaulin that sheltered her. As Sandra began to sob, gripping the sides of the table white-knuckled, Amy moved her hand over Georgia's face, and drew the lids down. Amy's own eyes remained dry. She had shed all the tears she had to give already.

Pixie walked along the side of the table, opposite Amy as the girl's eyes were shut. Resting her hand on the corpse's cold arm, Pixie hung her head low. After a long silence, Pixie leaned forward and whispered to the dead woman before her, "I'm sorry you got dragged into this, darlin'. Thank you fer protectin' yer sister. You died a great woman, of that I am sure." She lightly ran her fingers across the girl's hair. "I wish I had the chance to speak to her. I wish I could have known her. You two are lucky fer that, at least." Pixie spoke to the two living girls despite her gaze lingering on the corpse.

Finally, she looked up at Amy. Her eye was misty and she wore a solemn frown, "We're gonna return Warren to the ash soon. Do you wish fer her ta' join 'im?"

Sandra, unable to look at Georgia's body any more, had buried her face in Amy's shoulder, where she sobbed quietly. Amy looked up to Pixie as she held her sister, grief etched onto every contour of her face, despite her lack of tears.

"Yes." she croaked weakly "Thank you."

Once Sandra had cried her fill, Amy gently held her at arms length, and smiled at her. Sandra, understanding without a word being spoken, managed a feint smile back, dried her eyes, and nodded, before stepping out of the tent. When they were alone, Amy walked over to Pixie, stopping when they were only one pace apart, and stood there, studying her face. The moment lasted what felt like a long time, before Amy pulled her into a close embrace.

"I'm sorry." she whispered in Pixie's ear. "What's going to happen to us now?"

Pixie closed her eye tight and squeezed her, ignoring the pain that shot through her stomach and chest. The two of them gently swayed in silence for a long while before Pixie could think of what to say, "I don' know, sweetheart." Pressing her eyes against the side of Amy neck, Pixie attempted to smother her tears before they began. "I don' know anythin' anymore."

Amy bit her lip. She hadn't been daring to hope for the comfort of security, but it's loss stung all the same.

"That's alright." She made herself say, kissing Pixie on the top of her head. "Let's just not know together, for a little while longer."

 

[ProtoChimp]

Alex had thankfully found some half decent mercs to help her bring down the pyre. Somehow these ones didn't demand payment and just did it, no fuss they just put out the fire and brought it down. Then Alex had another problem. Would she stay here and continue to help her people? Or go home to her son? He had been so silent since they got home. He needed her, but her people needed her too. It wouldn't do good for the people to not have their sheriff around when they were recovering from a five day siege, two battles, and more deaths than anyone could count.

The nobility was gone. The soldiers were worthless to begin with, but they were dead, like it or not her people were going to look to the WV for help, for safety. They should have been looking for her, but one woman couldn't look after this many people by herself, especially not when there was only one other officer she knew to still be alive. Still, perhaps for just this one day she could rely on them, Austin needed her, and even if the citizens needed her too, Austin was her son, and these mercs were more useful than she wanted them to be.

He slept easier than she thought he would last night. Isabel slept in his room with her baby Franklin, Vidal slept on a fold out bed and Alex and Austin slept in her bed. He fell asleep so fast, so easily, it was a god send. She didn't want to have that conversation with him. For one more night he could not understand the truth about his father, or at least since he probably knew, he didn't need to hear it from her mouth. He would know if she was lying, just like she had lied all this time, even when the attack was happening she lied. How could you tell your child their father was a demon?

For now she hugged him tightly and slept. The morning would be hard, harder than any before her.

 

[Dogmatic99]

"Angel Row." Florian sounded it out, the words tasting as bitter as any of the ash he'd been unlucky enough to sample over the past few weeks.

To think they did it... that things had come this far. "I never should have left." But would staying have changed anything for the better, realistically? Can you save people who're so determined to burn their own house down. Irena hadn't painted a very pretty picture of it back at her place.

"Things have changed since you're day, Florian, everything's gotten bigger now. It isn't like when we were fighting the families, half of it's about sending big loud messages now. Getting the job done's something for the old guard now.

Well Florian was getting the message loud and clear here. Making an angel out of someone was a rarity at the worst of times, at least it used to be. The victim was slashed bloody and strung up for all to see, draped in the colours of the Bejic family. Cloth and gore forming a revolting pair of wings for them. Something that was saved for those that'd done a grievous wrong against the family. Florian could still remember the first time he'd seen it done, his father had kept the poor bastard alive the whole time.

Now here they were in droves. Bodies turning into putrid shades of grey and their faces twisted in varying looks of pain or thousand yard corpse stares. Rows of Crucifixes their red banners being battered by the harsh north winds.

"It started off kind of smart. We reached out to the workers and union supporters, made it seem like a real cause. Bring down the noble oppressors and claim back the dome for the common man. We got tons of new people, but we needed more officers for the new troops. We had a ton of little power struggles on the inside, people trying to move up and get a bigger slice. Nothing we couldn't handle but it didn't make things easy and the nobility didn't make things easy, turns out those guys can put up a good fight when they take the gloves off. We lost so many along the way... Petrov's gone. Same with Boris, Ivan, even Whirrun got iced along the way but that's some whole other shit."

That one came as a surprise. Not that Whirrun had gotten herself killed just that Florian had always imagined it would be him or Erik that did it. Life is full of anticlimaxes sometimes. But at least these tiny vacuums in power had left Florian with some handy openings in where to get some street level help.
========================================================================
HOW FLORIAN GOT THAT HELP:

The backroom of the bar went quiet as some stupid son of a ***** busted open the door. Idiot even had a full face breather mask on, like that could make him look tough or something. The family men around the table put their cards down or puffed a little harder on their cigars.

["So you're Whirrun's old boys?"] He growled through the thick filter.

["Who wants to know?"] One of them asked.

["Well that means yes. So who's the toughest bastard in this outfit?"]

They looked at each other for a quick moment with matching smirks all around. They muttered among themselves like gossiping housewives, arguing over who'd have to bother getting up to kick this little shit's ass out the door. Eventually a balding bruiser heaved himself out of his chair.

["Guess that be me."]

Then things happened very fast. It was too crowded and dark for the others at the table to tell him what happened afterwards, not for sure anyway. All poor baldy knew was that his knee went really weak, his breath went out of him, his arm hurt like hell and the wall wanted to make best friends with his head. His friends just felt kind of awkward after that.

["Not anymore you're not!"] Masky looked up from his freshly made ***** to the table of gangsters. ["You work for Irena now. You're gunna start doing actual work and you're not gunna get drunk twenty-four-seven! You report to her before sundown for your tasks. You try and duck out and I'll hear about it."] And with that he was gone.
========================================================================

Give Whirrun's boys one thing their love of old timey weapons would come in handy today at least.

["Time to get to work then."] Florian sighed, reaching into the back of the crawler and hefting out a weighty fire ax and a shovel. The wind picked up like a bitter welcome home as he trudged uphill towards the grim monument. It was time to start sending messages.

["It's gunna be a long day."]

One by one he cut them down and sent the poor souls back to the ash. It was a long and lonely funeral. But it had to be done. Just like Florian had been taught, there was a proper way of doing these things.

 

[ProtoChimp]

Aesop's low grumbling managed to stir Cameron from her slumber. She'd apparently spent the entire night snoozing in a hospital chair of all things. She must have been exhausted the previous night. Now she was just stiff.

After a small yawn, Cam set her eyes on the man of the hour, "'Morning Aesop." She smiled.

Aesop's eyes grew accustom to the room and the dim lights as he heard Cameron's voice beside him. He turned his neck a little to see her. At first he didn't know what to think, but then he wore a tired smile. "I take it we won?"

Cam nodded her head and leaned over to rest her hand on his shoulder, "Yep, we sure did. Yuteni's liberated and Austin is dead."

Aesop sighed with such relief he nearly emptied his lungs. He was gone. After eight long fucking years of hatred he was finally dead. He closed his eyes and leaned his head back against his pillow, Cameron unable to tell if he was happy or upset. Truth was it was a mixture. "Who got him?" He asked weakly. "Pixie? Warren? Bennie? Or did you fly up to the ship and pull some ninja shit."

Cam laughed, "I wish I was that cool. Nah, Pixie roughed him up good and then some turncoat finished him off when he tried to escape. Must have been a pretty tough son of a ***** if he managed to keep Pixie on her toes."

"Yeah," he half chuckled, "he was a lot bigger than I remember."

"Gonna need some dentures, I reckon."

"Huh?" Aesop grumbled before licking around his mouth, still feeling pretty numb, as he realised most of his front teeth were missing. "Oh mother FUCKER!" He shouted out. "God damn fucking ****! Fucking," Aesop was seething, he went to sit up but pain suddenly shot through his body, forcing a gasp and a series of coughs through his lips as he lay back. He wasn't so much angry about his teeth as he was the fact that after all this time, all this build up in his mind, he was an ant compared to how strong Austin had become.

Cam got to her feet and tried to calm him, "Hey, hey, hey it's okay, man. You've got a beard, remember? The ladies'll never notice!"

Aesop had ragged breaths as he coughed, laughed and whimpered as he lay back on the bed. "Ladies love the beard don't they." He laughed more, weaker and weaker as he winced in pain, trying to hold it in. He went to bite his lips only to feel his teeth against the sides of his bottom lip, and the gums pushing down on the middle. "Had to take one last fucking jab at me didn't he." He was on the verge of tears, he didn't want to let the bastard get to him but after everything that had happened he wasn't sure he could hold it in, not that he was good at that in the first place.

Cam furrowed her brow and began rubbing his shoulder. She forced a grin, "Yeah, they sure do. C-can I get you anything?" She could tell he wanted cry. She didn't want to see that.

"Uh, haha, yeah yeah sure. We got any of them blue sodas left?" He asked rubbing his face.

"Um, I'm not sure... I could ask around if you'd like."

Aesop took in a sharp breath in an attempt to calm his nerves. "Nah its okay, some water or, something I dunno. Thanks um, you can, you can go if you like I'm fine. I'm fine." He blinked and forced a clearly fake smile at her.

"No, it's okay, buddy. I'll stay." She walked over to the nearby sink and filled up a small cup on water. Returning to his side, she held it up to his lips.

He could tell she felt uncomfortable being around him like this, hell the whole Boomhower crew must have back when he had his first freakout about Austin. He sipped the water as she held it and nodded as he was done. "Thanks. Look I know this is uncomfortable and weird so, you can go. I'm sure there's something that needs work or, hell why isn't everyone partying we got the maiden back! Go get a drink or something."

"I drank last night. I'm good." She grinned and sat back down next to him. "I don't mind hanging around here for a bit. I'm sure you could use the company."

Aesop looked awkward as he resigned to staying in the bed. "Thanks," he croaked. "So, what's it like out there?"

"Depressing," She sighed. "Bennie told me it'll probably take a few days to get the survivors fixed up and sent home or... wherever. Ship repairs will take longer. We've lost alot of people... or... most of our people. Going to be recruiting newbies while we're sitting around. Apparently some people have already shown interest."

"I see. New that's..." he had to stop, the burning question in his mind halting his enthusiasm. "Wh-who died?" He asked rather bluntly, yet afraid to ask.

"Well, as far as we can tell... everyone who was aboard the ship save for Florian was killed during or sometime after Austin's attack. As for who we lost yesterday," She frowned. "Warren's dead. His funeral is in a few hours. I'm sorry."

Aesop's face hardened. He knew everyone on the ship must have been dead, but optimism foolishly stayed in his mind. Even if it was only a little, knowing for a fact they were all dead felt crushing. And Warren... Warren.

"Why are you sorry?" He mumbled. "You're not some nut with daddy issues." He whimpered once more, trying to hold back whatever he could. "I'm gonna go, say bye to him and stuff. Don't know why, I didn't know him, not really. But I wanna do it anyway. Did he talk to you?" He turned to her. "Or anyone?"

"Aesop," She gave him a stern look. "Of course you knew him. He was like a brother to us. We were all Maidens. Don't talk like that!"

"But its true." He answered back. "We never talked, barely had a conversation. I don't know what he liked, or did for fun, other than killing people I guess, and on that well..." he didn't want to say he could sympathise, even if he was feeling new, strange feelings about killing. Chillingly pleasant feelings. "I'm serious Cam, I didn't know him, I barely knew half the people who died beyond their names!"

He pulled himself back, he didn't want to act aggressive. "I'm not trying to make this about myself but... I'm not a maiden Cameron. Not really, and I know what you're gonna say but its true, you know that I'm not."

Cam narrowed her eyes and spoke plainly, "Are you loyal to Pixie?"

He nodded solemnly.

"Would you do anything she asked? Would you die for her? Die for her children?"

He hung his head low. "I see where you're driving at."

"Yes," Cam nodded. "If you're loyal to Pixie you're a Maiden. Simple as that."

"I guess. Sorry, for the pity party. Ran outta tampons." He said flatly.

"I've got plenty of those." Cam chuckled.

Aesop chuckled back. "I reckon if you punched me and told me to stop being a little ***** we could have cut a long story short."

"Sorry, Aesop... I think you've taken one too many punches as it is."

An awkward mumble escaped his lips as he remembered how Austin took him down. As embarrassing and as silly as it was, he wished Austin had focused his efforts on anywhere other than his manhood. "You could always taze me. Ruffles owns about seven. Pretty sure he can make one out of exactly four rocks and love."

"Don't be so hard on yourself," She rolled her eyes. "Haven't you been through enough?"

"Hey, no humour like self deprecation. I can make fun of you if you want, though that's just low hanging fruit." Aesop wore the biggest shit eating grin she had ever seen him wear.

"Give me you're best shot you fruitcake." She grinned.

"We really gonna go down this road C?"

"*****, I can take it."

"Okay, lets go with the easy targets first," he scratched his beard in thought in the douchiest way he could, "when I see someone in the mess hall in the morning looking really, reeaaallly pleased with themselves, why is that? And usually only mornings to. Sometimes afternoons, sometimes after trips to the bathroom?"

"Trips to the bathroom?!" Cam scoffed. "What? A girl can't enjoy a good pee?"

"I'm not saying that, not saying that at all. Just that you happen to go at the same time as quite a few of the guys. Hmmm I wonder if Bennie's gonna be needing some emergency trips to 'wash his face' or anything, totally completely innocent. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm." He put on his best detective face.

"At least I got game." She winked. "You're gonna have to try harder, Aesop."

"Hey I got game... just haven't played in a while."

"That's too bad." Cam chuckled as she crossed her arms over her chest and slouched in her seat. "The girls are missin' out."

"Yeah," he said sarcastically, "who doesn't wanna have a beard rubbing up against their neck when they're making out. But I'll die before I get rid of this bastard." He pointed proudly to his beard. "This took more work than necessary but less than I'm proud of!"

"That's the spirit!" She cooed. He was cheering up! "Hey, I'm going to grab you some soda. I'm sure Ruffles still has a few left somewhere." After skipping over to the exit, Cam stopped in the threshold and added. "Be right back!"

"Go slower!" He yelled in an overly dramatic tone. "Everyone else has seen that ass at least me watch it walk."

 

[NinjaDeathSlap]

Paradiso, 'The Golden City', was looking a little tarnished in The Gentleman's opinion, as he drew closer and closer across the ashen wastes, feeding in to the steady stream of traffic, by The Rock's standards, that flowed to and from the dome throughout the day. The guards at the gate didn't pay much mind to the weathered man they saw in the driver's seat, with crinkled black eyes, tangled hair and bushy beard. His papers checked out, and so they let him through. The Lombardi Tower would be another story. The Gentleman knew that it would be fruitless to try and sneak in, and neither did he wish to, and so, it was in his 'normal' appearance that he appeared in front of the compound gates an hour or so later, his borrowed crawler parked a respectful distance away.

Five guards manned the gate. Three on the ground, one of which manned a mounted plasma cannon from a fortified position, and two sentries up above. All weapons levelled at his approach.

"Halt!" the squad leader called out, pointing his own plasma rifle at The Gentleman's heart.

The Gentleman raised his hands above his head, but kept walking.

"There's no need for all that. I mean you no harm. I am-"

"We know who you are." The guard interrupted. "I said, HALT!"

"Of course you do." The Gentleman replied, smirking, as he stopped about ten yards away from where the guard stood, close enough to hear the whine of all those plasma weapons charging up. "Just as I know that if my presence here was as offensive as all that, you would have orders to shoot me on sight anyway. Now, put those infernal things down, and perhaps we might be able to talk with some civility."

The guard did not lower his weapon. However, The Gentleman did notice his trigger finger relax.

"Where are Master Owain and Mistress Severa Lombardi?"

"Somewhere safe. When I feel as secure in the company of you and your men as I know they are, perhaps I will tell you."

"And they will be returned unharmed?"

"Oh, I make no promises as to that." The Gentleman flashed a grin at the guard, wetting his lips a little. "I assure you I did only what was necessary in incapacitating them. I should be applauded for my restraint, really. They are in, shall we say, relatively good condition under the circumstances."

The guard captain was wearing an increasingly ugly look as The Gentleman goaded him.

"What do you want, and why shouldn't I just take you into custody and beat their location out of you?"

"Good manners aside? I have an offer for Lady Contessa, an offer that I'm sure she'd like the chance to accept or reject on her own terms. I shall require a private audience with her... tomorrow. I am weary from travel, and so until then, your most generous hospitality will suffice.

The man made a snarling noise under his breath.

"You will be required to surrender any weapons on you person before entering the tower."

"And if the man who are assigned to watch over my every move do the same, I will be only too happy to oblige."

 

[Fappy]

Spoiler: No Fun for Pixie

A few short hours after seeing the girl for the first time, Pixie was watching her corpse being laid out on a pyre next to Warren's. They had set up the funeral proceedings at the edge of the parameter; away from the Wilkes-Vines encampment.

In the shadow of the Iron Maiden itself.

It didn't take long for Bennie and Brock to set everything up. While they finished up, a small crowd of locals gathered around what remained of the Maidens. Once finished with the preparations, Bennie passed the ceremonial liquor bottle to Pixie who was stood at the front of the group, leaning on her makeshift crutch. Bennie almost offered his assistance but thought better of it. He knew she'd want to do this alone.

With the pyre ready to go, all eyes were on Pixie. She'd spent hours that morning thinking of what she would say. How she would beg for forgiveness. How she would grovel to her remaining crew. She wasn't sure what she should do or say. How she could possibly make up for her failures. For her sins.

She didn't have a clue anymore. About anything.

Taking Austin's head should have brought her clarity. Rebuilding the Maidens should have become her new purpose. She'd toppled stronger tyrants and recovered from similarly devastating defeats before, so what made this time different?

So much. So much is different.

It was like a constant tug. A cold, clammy hand, not unlike that of a corpse's, wrapping its fingers around her ankle. It was pulling her deeper. So much deeper. The cool air grew cooler and the black space, blacker. Maybe if she sunk down deep enough she'd reach the bottom. Maybe she'd be able to kick off and swim back up.

Or maybe she'd just drown.

She'd damn near cracked the neck of the liquor bottle she was gripping it so tight. She hadn't even noticed until Sprout tapped her on the shoulder and asked if she was okay. How long had she just been standing there?

Ignoring Sprout, she stepped forward and did her duty in silence. She poured the alcohol onto the pyre and set it ablaze with a match. She stood close to the flames as they grew more violent, staring directly into them. Even now, she remained silent.

As the flames enveloped the entire pyre, Bennie stepped forward and pulled Pixie away. She struggled to stay, but eventually relented.

Usually she would say a few words and then ask anyone if they wanted to speak. Pixie had abandoned protocol in this case. Whether purposefully or not, no one could really tell. Their leader just looked... out of it. Pixie herself watched the flames dance around awhile longer before deciding she'd had enough, "I'm sorry." Was all she had the strength to say to the fallen before she turned and started hobbling away on her lone crutch.

She couldn't stay here a minute longer.

Bennie worked his way through the crowd and located Maria. Putting a hand on her shoulder, she pointed towards Pixie, "Can you look her over? She's looking even worse than yesterday. She needs to stay in bed for a few days at least. Think you can pull that off for me?"

 

[Daystar Clarion]

Lilith had been happy to see Aesop finally back on his feet, even if the circumstances demanded she not look it. She had grabbed his arm as the group took their places, a small smile curled her lips as she looked up at him. The girl didn't doubt her friend had taken more of a mental beating, than a physical one. How this would affect him, she didn't know, but she hoped he'd be get through the worst of it.

As the send off began, Lilith's welcomed the heat of the flames, even though she wasn't feeling particularly chilly.

After a few silent moments, Pixie started heading back to the ship. Lilith furrowed her brow as she followed her captain from out the corner of her eye.

'This is hard on us all, but moreso for her.'

Returning her eyes to the pyre, her expression softened as she stared at the flames, a tired sadness in her eyes. The girl always found something... comforting, about the way Maiden performed funerals, rare was it to find all the Maidens in one place.

'Not all of them are here' Lilith clenched her jaw as her mind turned to Frostfall for a moment. Closing her eyes, Lilith bowed her head gently to not just her fallen friends, but everyone who who has passed.

Silently, she rested her head against Aesop's shoulder. At least the mad man hadn't taken everyone from her.

 

[Terratina.]

Last night was full of awkward smiles, beer and soda - soda which was a vile shade of blue of all things. Today was full of awkward silence. Well, awkward for Maria at least. She didn't know any of the fallen but that didn't mean she didn't show respect as the pyre burned and as the flames crackled in the shadow of the Iron Maiden.

Of course, Maria didn't have it in her to simply ignore the death and destruction, especially when it was right in front of her, plain as day. Nevertheless, all she could was watch as the funeral went on. She sighed, Yuteni was probably going to see nothing but funerals for a month or so. And then there'll probably be the cleanup...

A hand on her shoulder interrupted her thoughts. It was Bennie, "Can you look her over? She's looking even worse than yesterday. She needs to stay in bed for a few days at least. Think you can pull that off for me?"

"I'll try." Maria replied as her gaze shifting towards the hobbling Bandit Queen, "Think she'll need some alone time beforehand though."

 

[ProtoChimp]

Aesop chatted with Cameron for a while. She made good small talk and even managed to distract him from their fucked up situation. That didn't last as long as he would have liked though as the funeral began just a few hours later. Cameron and Lilith had helped him up, his legs were weak, and walking was exhausting, but he was able to stand still on his own.

As Warren and a woman were returned to the ashes, Aesop buried his eyes into the fire. His head wasn't on his shoulders. Why did they need to take his head? If they wanted him dead why... did they have to take it so far? Did they have to take his dignity as well as his life? To have his dreads hang from his head and down past his neck. Had they done the same to every other maiden aboard the ship?

And that was when he realised they would never find their bodies. They had found Banks' body still on the maiden freshly killed, but that was it. Everyone else would be lost, their bodies baking in the ash and the scorching sun. They would burn eventually, was that so different from the quick route Warren was getting now?

Yes! Yes it was! It was incredibly different, completely different! Warren at least got the send-off he deserved, that he earned, surrounded by his maidens. The others were cast off, thrown away like trash with only the company of each other's corpses. They wouldn't burn for a long time, they were stuck and...

It was becoming too much for Aesop, he had held it in this long, even Cameron managed to keep it back before, but he couldn't take it anymore. Tears flowed down his face as he struggled to stand, he nearly brought down Lilith as his knees suddenly gave way beneath him, unable to stay on his own two feet any longer. Humiliated, he knelt on the ground with his hands shielding his face as he cried his eyes out. Like a child.

 

[Fappy]

"Think she'll need some alone time beforehand though."

Bennie sighed, "She has any more of that and I reckon she'll snap. Expect her to reject your help at first, but the second she realizes who you are she'll relax. You saved her son's life."

"People keep reminding me of that..." Maria sighed in return, "Alright then, I'll go."

"Thanks." Bennie muttered as he watched her leave.

Maria followed after Pixie, though it didn't take much to catch up with the injured woman. Maria kept her greeting simple, "You doin' okay?"

Pixie was completely wrapped up in her own thoughts when the foreign voice called out to her. She didn't recognize who it was. Despite that, she didn't bother turning her head, "I'm fine." She said, dismissively.

And there was the stubborness, "Doesn't look that way to me. I'd say you need some rest."

In an attempt to break the ice, Maria added, "Trust me, I'm a doctor."

Part of her cringed after saying that sentence, 'Geez, how cliché can you get?'

"Fuck that!" Pixie spat as she attempted to shoo her away. "I can---" Her words died in her throat when she turned to look at the woman. Was this her? "Wait... are you Maria?"

"That's me." Maria said, giving a nervous smile. She probably should have just said that in the first place but a greeting like "my name is Maria, I saved your son" seemed somewhat out of place in the gloomy atmosphere. Heck, the doctor's forte wasn't introductions or first impressions anyway.

Pixie looked the girl over for a few moments and nodded, "Thank you fer what you did. I... owe you everythin'...." She broke eye contact.

"Don't worry about that, I did get paid after all." Maria responded, replacing the smile with a look of concern, "Worry about yourself; you're a mess, you need some help."

Pixie groaned, shifting her weight onto her crutch, "Fuck I... fine, whatever..." She said reluctantly. "Lead the way."

"Okay, but I don't know my way around the Maiden yet." Maria said with a slight chuckle as she took the lead.

"Now's a good a time as any to figure it out." Pixie snickered.

It wasn't long before the two women had made their way to Pixie's room. The doctor helped her new captain into bed and laid the crutch against the wall. Laying on her back, Pixie looked up at Maria, "Killed it out there, didn' I?" She chuckled sadly.

"Everybody's pretty beat up about the whole thing." Maria sighed, "Shouldn't be a surprise that their captain's the same."

"I ain't supposed ta' be like everyone else. At least... not in public like that." She held a hand up above her face and squeezed it into a fist. It hurt. "I'm 'sposed ta' be strong fer everyone. There ain't been a Maiden funeral in history where I didn' make a grand speech. Where I didn' stir the crew's hearts. I choked. I pussed out."

Maria listened and nodded as she studied Pixie's injures while trying not to prod too hard. What wasn't black and blue was covered in cuts and scrapes.

There was a remark about being in the wars somewhere, but that was probably the case. There wasn't much the doctor could do about the captain's cracked ribs, anyway. Still, nothing some bed rest wouldn't fix.

After a while, Maria gave her reply, "You're still a person and at the moment, a rather beaten up one. Expecting someone to appear strong, even invincible, all of the time is silly. Everyone knows that."

"I did it fer ten years, Maria. I'm stronger an' smarter than I was back then, but... I'm not as brave. I feel like I'm at the end of a long, windy road where I've made all the wrong turns an' I 'ave no one to blame but myself. I've fucked up. I've fucked up so many times." She closed her eye and rolled her head onto its side. "I'm passed my prime."

"Don't be like that." Maria replied, "Just... just focus on getting better for now."

Pixie grunted in amusement. 'Getting better'. Did she truly know what it was she was asking of Pixie?

There was no getting better for someone like her. She was too jaded. Too fundamentally twisted to ever be made right. No matter what little hope Amy offered her in that regard, Pixie knew in her heart that she could never be fixed. That no matter how hard she fought she would only hurt herself more. That more of her loved ones would die.

Reconciliation was a vicious, impossible cycle that she would be trapped in until the day she died. With any luck that day wouldn't be too far off.

Everyone would be better off without her, anyway.

"Tell me," Pixie said suddenly. "The boy likes you, right? You an' my son get along?"

Maria blinked and was caught off guard by the question, "Yeah."

Regardless, she just hoped that it didn't lead the conversation down a more morbid path.

"He's a terrible flirt, though." She quickly added in mock-disgust.

"He learned from the best." Pixie smiled. "I reckon I didn' always, uh... teach 'im right in that regard. Not the best role model when it comes to that stuff. Would'a been even worse had he been a girl, I reckon." Pixie banished the horrible thought just as soon as it came. "Take care of 'im, will ya'? You seem like a nice girl an'... he needs more good people in his life. A lot of them are... dead now."

"Of course." Maria solemnly answered.

"Thank you." Pixie whispered.

Maria was about to reply and then she noticed that Pixie had drifted off to sleep. Well, at least someone was getting some rest around there. And so, Maria left the Bandit Queen to her rest and left the room.

 

[NinjaDeathSlap]

Amy watched as Georgia burned, Sandra by her side. Both of them were beyond tears at this point, but neither did Amy feel like any wait was lifted off her shoulders. Whether her flesh rotted or burned to ash, Georgia was gone, and Amy failed to see how this ceremony was supposed to put any kind of full stop on that. Wasn't death itself already final enough?

Her gaze flickered from the flames as Pixie limped her way past her and back to the Maiden, after saying her very few words, both other than that she made no motion to follow her. Since they had embraced in that tent, over Georgia's body, the two of them hadn't spoken. What were they now? Amy wasn't sure, and perhaps Pixie wasn't any the wiser either, or perhaps she just lacked the strength right now to put Amy out of her misery. The thought of losing her was like an icy knife to Amy's heart, but at the same time, she wished that one way or another one of them could just bloody well put and end to this. She no longer had the energy for all the uncertainty, all the pushing and pulling between them. To look at Pixie now... Austin may have beaten her body, taken her ship, killed her friends... but it was Amy who had finished off The Bandit Queen.

'Don't even try and deny it. All she ever wanted from you was something easy. Something that didn't hurt when everything else did. She wanted pretty words and prettier smiles. Truth is, no matter what she said, what she really wanted was The Golden Rose, and when you gave it up for her, she didn't like what was left. She's broken because she couldn't fix you; and you, you were searching for everything you've never had, and now your finding out it never fit you in the first place.'

With great effort, Amy forced Pixie out of her mind, and tuned her attention back to the flames. There was nothing she could do about Meredith now. Only she could decide where they must go from here. Right now, Georgia was burning, and Amy was determined that her sister would receive her full and undivided attention. Aesop was sobbing, and a part of Amy wanted to slap him across the face. Dammit! It was over! Austin was dead and buried! Why the hell were they even bothering to do any of this, if the very person who have been feeling the most relieved about it all could pick themselves the fuck up and start acting like a Maiden again?! What the fuck did Georgia, Warren, and all the rest die for if he was still going to act like the world was ending?! Yeah, it was a hard blow to take, but it was fucking over now, so why was nothing changing?!

She didn't slap him, or scream at him. She just continued to watch, stony faced. Perhaps if she stayed out here the longest, perhaps if she continued watching until the last of Georgia floated away on the breeze, she'd feel better.

 

[Terratina.]

Tsubaki's visit was probably the only noteworthy event of the day. Then again, there wasn't much going in the infirmary and since her visit, Jun had tried and failed to go back to sleep or relax in any manner. In the room there was just him, the stench of disinfectant and the ticking of the clock. It had just been one day since the whole thing - one day! How he was going to fill the rest escaped him.

Jun had already gone over the fight again and again in his mind. Cranston had them, so why hadn't the infamous assassin killed them then and there? Either way, it wouldn't have worked out for The Cook in the end.

Pointless thoughts, that's all they were...

The injured soldier got up from the bed, using his elbows instead of the norm and paced around the room for about five minutes. He had to stretch his legs, walk about for a bit - anything but staying in bed all day. Jun then paused in front of the door, give it a small kick and frowned. If he were on the other side, the door would open. If.

Unfortunately, on the side he was on, it was a pull to open affair. Jun turned and his gaze fell upon the call button, however, they had enough to deal with, let alone one idiot who couldn't open a door by himself. Wait, he could at least do that, right?

There was only one way to find out.

He moved over to the left side of the door and gingerly tried to turn the handle with his foot. As soon as he felt he had a decent grip, Jun pulled and promptly landed on his ass.

"Sseulmo-eobsneun." Jun muttered as he meekly closed the door with his foot, moved over to the bed, picked himself up and got back into the bed. He took a long, deep sigh and leaned back onto the pillow. The worst part was knowing that it was his own fault. Though, of course, Jun would deal with his problems by himself. No need for anyone else.

 

[The Funslinger]

Ruffles was more or less oblivious to everyone around him as he watched the bodies burn. One thing he did notice was Maria leading Pixie away. He managed a brief smile, even if it did die quickly. Getting the Captain to go to bed was a hell of an accomplishment for a newbie. It was good to finally have a doctor around.

He went back to watching the pyre. Jesus, it was fucked up. It seemed like they were losing people left right and center these days. Warren had been beheaded, even. Beheaded! How the fuck even...

Tapping Brock roughly on the shoulder, he asked, "how the fuck did Warren lose his head?"

Brock turned to peer at him, scowling over the top of his mask. "Why the fuck's that matter? The guy's dead either way."

"Just... how'd it happen?"

Brock shrugged. "Well, we found some kinda big-ass sword with lots of blood on it on one of the bodies. I reckon that's your man." He turned back to the pyre.

Ruffles felt a pit open in his gut. A sword? A big sword? Oh, god no... fuck... It couldn't be. But it had to be. Some psychopathic dickface had used the sword Ruffles had forged to kill one of their crew. The same way that they had used the ship Ruffles maintained, the plasma guns and missile systems he calibrated, and the ship he maintained from top to bottom to break open the dome like an egg and rain hell on Yuteni.

He felt sick.

===============================================

"Well it appears you've stabilized quite quickly, Major," said the Doctor, running his eyes again over the monitor Bryan was connected to.

"Uh huh."

"So, we no longer need to keep you in the ICU," he continued.

"Fair enough," Bryan replied. "Where ya sticking me, then?"

"Well, we've elected to make the simplest choice and put you with your fellow squad mate, Major Moon."

Bryan smirked. "And I'm sure he were thrilled when ya told him that."

"You're the first to know," the doctor replied. "In any case, since you're no longer completely bedridden, we thought a friendly face might be able to help him with simple tasks, seeing as he stubbornly appears to be neglecting his call button."

"Alright," said Bryan. "But I ain't helping him fish his tackle out fer a piss."

"He... he has a chamber pot for that, so you needn't worry."

"Thank fuck. When am I seeing the new roomy, then?"

"We're moving you tomorrow. Now, unless you require any form of assistance, I have other patients to attend to.

 

[Fappy]

A full week had passed since Austin's death. The locals that remained in Yuteni were either too sick or too injured to leave with the bulk of the Wilkes-Vines forces who departed a day prior. Many of the older POW's were hauled off while the children were either taken in by civilians or left to survive on their own. Those few that could be trusted were taken in by the Iron Maiden, along with a collection of Yuteni residence who wanted to join their cause.

There was more new blood than old at this point.

Today was the day. The ship repairs were just about done and recruiting had been completed. Soon, they would be taking to the sky and the Iron Maidens would truly be whole again. There was one outstanding issue hampering that rebirth, however...

"We've been tryin' ta' reach 'im fer days! What the fuck is goin' on!?" Pixie shouted in frustration as she paced back and forth in the navigation room. "Is he dead 'er what!?"

Cameron was leaned against the wall with her arms crossed over her shoulder, watching Pixie march all around the room. She sighed, "I told you, he was Cranston's guy! Maybe when he heard the Cook got taken out he took the payout for himself."

"There's no way he could move that amount of carbon on his own," Bennie shook his head. "Not that fast, anyway. This was a calculated betrayal." The big guy was sitting at the end of the table looking over old documents Pixie had provided him regarding the storage facility they had used to store their carbon.

"FUCK!" Pixie spat before kicking a nearby console. "We're fucked without that money! Payton'll shit down our necks faster'n---" Pixie tapered off when she spotted Carlos. "Carlos." She stated plainly. There was something about his demeanor that set off her alarm bells.

All eyes were on the former bandito as he stepped into the room, "I know what happened to the money." He was greeted by silence. He let the suspense seep in just long enough for Pixie's eye to start twitching. "It was Lady Contessa Lombardi. Cranston's man's dead."

Pixie crossed the gap between them in a flash, "An' how the fuck do you know that?!"

"I was hired by Contessa for that heist."

Bennie glared at him, "And you choose to tell us now?!"

"DID YOU SELL US OUT, MOTHER FUCKER!?" Pixie roared as she drew her sidearm and stuck it right in Carlos' face. "DON' FUCK AROUND WITH ME, CARLOS!"

"Captain!" Cam protested.

Carlos was visibly shaken, but he stood his ground, "Fuck no, Pixie! Listen, she's been keeping tabs on our movements. She just sent word to me about it an hour ago. It's over. It's done. She has it."

"FUCK!" Pixie shouted as she stormed off in the opposite direction. "We're fucked! Not only can' we pay Wilkes-Vines, but now we've got fuckin' Disco Queen out fer ar' heads!"

"Not necessarily," Carlos stepped forward. Pixie turned around and met his gaze. "She contacted me for a reason. She could have just kept us guessing and taken us out when we had our guard down. But no, she wants to make a deal."

"A deal!? Sorry, Carlos but I'm done makin' deals!"

"Do you have a choice?! The Maiden is weaker than ever right now. Do you really think you can afford to be at the top of everyone's shit list?"

"This is fucked." Bennie muttered under his breath.

Pixie was livid, but she was having a hard time arguing Carlos' point. He continued, "Think of all the new recruits. Of your kids. If Contessa came after you they'd be the first to go."

After glaring at him for a long while Pixie let out a long sigh, "What does she want?"

"She wants the Iron Maiden to lead a covert attack on Basilio Tower. She means to assassinate Lord Basilio."

"You can't be serious!" Cameron gasped.

Cam and Bennie exchanged confused looks while Pixie simply stood there, her fingers balled into a fist. As it trembled a thousand thoughts raced through her head. Why did she want him dead? Could she save Elizabeth? Could she be the one to kill Dio? What about her crew?

As a myriad of conflicting thoughts and feelings warred in her mind, one thing was certain: Contessa would not be getting the Iron Maiden.

"Fuck that. We can't be getting involved with this shit, Pixie." Bennie advised.

"Agreed," Pixie nodded. "She's not gettin' the Iron Maiden." She clenched her jaw. "She's gettin' me."

"What!?" Bennie barked as he practically lept out of his seat.

She turned to face him, "This is the only way."

"That's fucking bullshit!" He argued as he put a hand on her shoulder. "You're staying right here. With us. With your family."

Pixie stared back at Bennie for a long while in silence. A firm frown was glued to her face. Eventually, she looked to Carlos, "What happens if we agree to her terms?"

Carlos tried to ignore the stink-eye he was getting from Bennie when he replied, "She said she'd pay back the amount you own Wilkes-Vines in full and she'll leave the Maidens alone. But if she's only getting you... I don't know..."

"Payton's not unreasonable," Pixie replied. "If I can' get the full payment out of Contessa we can at least make it up to Payton by runnin' some errands fer him."

"Absolutely fuckin' not! Are you out of your goddamn mind, Pixie!?" Bennie was not having it. "We can't trust Payton and we sure as hell can't trust Contessa! She's already screwed us once, what makes you think she just wants us to play scapegoat in some political gambit of hers!?"

"WHAT CHOICE DO WE HAVE!?" Pixie shot back. "I WON' 'AVE MY CHILDREN HUNTED BY THAT *****!"

In an attempted to diffuse the situation, Cameron interjected, "What about Payton? Will he really be content with just doing some jobs for him? This operation has cost him a lot of money."

"Well," Bennie put his hands on his hips. "He did say he wanted Ru---"

"We're not sellin' 'im Ruffles. No fuckin' way." Pixie shook her head.

"That's his decision."

"I don' see 'im here right now. Do you!?" Pixie spat. "I can' sell out one of my own."

"Who are we selling out?" asked Ruffles, walking through the door. When he'd found out through the grapevine that there was a meeting about, he'd decided to get involved. It irritated him sometimes that the others seemed to forget he was one of the first people to crew the Maiden. It seemed he'd gotten here just in time, too. Apparently the subject of his departure was on the table.

"Speak of the devil." Pixie muttered. Reaching into her jacket pocket, she retrieved an enclosed letter.

Bennie shrugged, "He already knows about it."

"What?" Pixie blinked stupidly. "You do?" She held the letter out for Ruffles to take.

"Yeah," said Ruffles, taking the letter and glancing at the wax seal. Breaking it open, he pulled out the paper inside and unfurled it, reading silently.

Spoiler: The Letter

Dear Mister Miller,

I have been aware of your talents for some time. As is fitting for one of the Iron Maidens, you have something of a reputation on The Rock. Particularly as a masterful engineer, and an inventor. These are admirable qualities, but what interests me more is your less advertised training. Your skills as a shipwright. As I understand it, more than anything, ships are your passion. I would be honored to give you an opportunity to fulfill that passion to its full extent.

Of course, given what you may or may not have heard about me, you may have reservations about building the ships I require. I assure you, however, that these vessels are not to be abused. This is something to be discussed face to face, however.

Most importantly, I would like you to consider what I can do for you. It is my understanding that you are something of a provider for your extended family. They have a hard life, and you work hard to provide relief as best you can. To that end, I give you the opportunity to give the people you love a better life. A happier life. Work for me, and I will see your family never wants for anything again. All I ask in return is a few months of your time. If you wish to remain in my service when that time is up, then that is your choice. But know that if you should leave, it will not invalidate this agreement.

This is a difficult decision, and I expect you to take as much time as needed to make your choice. If you should accept, you may also take as long as is needed to tie up any loose ends. I am sure you do not wish to leave your crewmates shorthanded.

Yours sincerely,

Payton Wilkes-Vines

Folding the letter along the preexisting crease lines, he stuck it inside one of the pockets of his jumpsuit. "So were you even gonna tell me about this if I hadn't walked in just now?"

"I was waiting for the right time." Pixie admitted.

"Uh huh," replied Ruffles. There was skepticism in his voice. "Well, y'know, maybe if you actually uh... invite me to the meeting where this shit comes up, then finding the right time ain't so hard. But I guess after near ten years, I don't rate being included on the decision making process for what I do, huh?"

"J-Jake, it ain't like that. I--shit..." Pixie sighed and bowed her head in defeat. "Look, I've jus' been... I've been a fuckin' trainwreck these past few weeks. I get that. There ain't no excuse. I'm sorry."

Bennie clenched his jaw as he looked over to his captain. There was a lot more meaning behind those words than she was letting on.

"Yeah," Ruffles replied, his expression softening a little. "Yeah, okay." Walking around the navigation console, he found a spot and turned to face into their rough circle.

"So what kinda work you reckon he'd have us do if we offered to pull jobs for him, anyway?"

"Fucking bullshit, that's wh---"

"Bennie!" Pixie interrupted in a stern tone. Looking over to Ruffles, she shrugged. "If it has anythin' ta' do with why he wants you I imagine it related to ships. Maybe he wants us ta' lift some hardware? Fuck if I know. If yer gonna go through with this Jake, we could at least 'ave you stick 'round a little longer. Yer our only remainin' engineer. We'd need you ta' pass on that knowledge before you left."

"Yeah, I'm not going anywhere right away," Ruffles replied. "Think I'll give it a few weeks at least. As for teaching people, Jesus..." he laughed. "Not sure I know how to teach someone. Guess I gotta try, though. One of the newbs seems like she might actually know what she's doing. At least, that's what I think when I can fucking understand her."

Pixie winced as she pictured the young girl in question. How many of their new recruits were children, anyway?

"That settles it then," Pixie glanced around the room. All eyes were on her. "I'll take Contessa up on 'er offer. In the meantime, y'all will get the new recruits situated an' see what kinda work Payton 'as fer us. Eventually, Jake'll do some work for Wilkes-Vines to smooth thin's over with 'em."

"No," Bennie protested. "I won't stand for this, Pixie." Why was she so willing to leave so soon after being reunited with everyone? There was clearly something else going on here. "Contessa will screw you."

Pixie narrowed her gaze, "It's not up to you, Bennie."

"Like hell it isn't!" He marched over to her.

Pixie stared up at the big guy as he towered over her. He was fuming, "Y'all are dismissed. Me n' Bennie 'ave a few things ta' discuss."

Ruffles straightened up and headed to the door. As he left, he looked back. "Bennie, just think what'll happen if we don't give that noble chick anything at all." Then he was gone.

Cam looked at the two of them before following after Ruffles and Carlos, wordlessly.

The door shut closed. The tension that followed was palpable.

Pixie and Bennie remained facing each other in silence for a short time before Pixie finally turned around and sat down at the table. Bennie remained where he stood, watching her as she let out a frustrated sigh and rested her forehead on the steel surface. Eventually he spoke up, "Look, I get it okay. I know you're looking for any excuse you can find to go running to her rescue, but listen Pixie... Elizabeth isn't your family. She's---"

"This ain't about her," Pixie cut him off. "This ain't about Elizabeth."

Bennie cocked an eyebrow, "Then what is it? It's not like you to simply bow to a noble's command. There's a reason you want to go to Feroxi."

"Feroxi, Boomhower, Sherwood, Paradiso... it don' fuckin' matter where."

"What the fuck's that supposed to mean?"

Pixie crossed her arms over the table and lifted her head just enough to peer over them, "I kill them, Bennie. I killed so many of them."

"This about the children or the Maidens?"

"They trusted me, Bennie. They trusted me an' I let them down. Barrot, Silo, Parker, Warren, Banks, Ricky... Cranston... More will die if I stay."

Bennie walked up from behind Pixie and wrapped his fingers around the back of her chair. He looked down at her, "Don't be like that, Pixie. They were your friends. They were your family. We all know what we're signing up for when we become Maidens."

"Is that really true, Bennie?" Pixie couldn't bring herself to look up at him. "These new... kids. They're only joinin' up 'cause they ain't got nowhere else ta' go. We're takin' advantage of them."

"We're giving them a home."

"THAT'S WHAT AUSTIN TOLD THEM TOO!" Pixie snapped. Bennie was taken aback. "I ain't no better than that psychopath. It took me awhile ta' figure it out, but its true. I'm a fuckin' cult leader. I act like everyone's fuckin' Ma' an' then I tell 'em ta' go lay their lives on the line for me! It's brainwashin', Bennie, an' I'm damn good at it!"

"That's not true, Pixie!" Bennie gripped her chair and leaned forward. "We believe in you because you actually care about us! You always have!"

"YOU DON' FUCKIN' KNOW ME ANYMORE, CARMINE!" Pixie sprung out of her seat and pressed a finger against the big man's chest. "YOU EVEN KNOW HOW MANY PEOPLE I GOT KILLED 'CAUSE I WANTED TA' PROTECT MARIBEL!?" Bennie was silent. Pixie attempted to calm herself as she continued. "Her safety was no one's concern but my own. I should'a sold 'er back the first chance I got, but I didn'. I was selfish an' my people paid the price fer it."

"That doesn't even account for most of the death---"

"It doesn' matter, Bennie!" Pixie interrupted. "It ain't the first time I done it an' it won' be the last unless I step down right now. I'm fuckin' toxic, can' you see that!? Or do I got my fuckin' pincers sunk in so deep inside yer heart you can' see clearly!?"

"Listen to me, Pixie," Bennie began. "You are nothing like, Austin. Not one bit. You give your people a choice and they choose whether or not they will die for you. You don't make them do anything. You know why they do it? It's because you love them and they love you. They would do anything for you and these new recruits will do the same."

"No," Pixie protested. "I ain't gonna kill another generation of Maidens, Bennie. I'm a sadistic parasite who'll drain 'em fer everythin' they're worth before I'm done with them."

Bennie grabbed Pixie's shoulders, "That's not true. You're a good person Pixie. You---"

Again, Pixie interrupted Bennie. This time it was with a sudden outburst of laughter. Bennie furrowed his brow, "'Good person'? Please, Carmine. The fuck are you smokin'? You even know how many fuckin' kids I killed jus' last week?"

"We all did, Pixie. We did it for a good reason. We did it to protect people. We had no other choice. We didn't enjoy it." Bennie regretted that last sentence just as soon as he'd said it. The subtle change in Pixie's expression told him everything he didn't want to know. "Right?"

Pixie fought her hardest not to look away when she spoke. She needed to be straight with him. She needed to look him in the eye when she gave him the truth, "Bennie... not a single minute goes by where I don' regret killin' those kids. Where I don' think about the circumstances that lead them to their deaths. Or how I would feel if they were mine. Not a single minute." She clenched her jaw and her good eye quivered. "But you 'ave ta' know, Bennie... when I kill. When I kill, I enjoy it. Always. No matter who it is. Age, sex, race, allegiance. It doesn' matter. My blood boils an' I feel this... this surge of ecstasy flow through me. I can' help it. When I killed those kids, Bennie... it took every ounce of willpower I had not to laugh and holler. Not to moan in pleasure."

Bennie was finding it harder and harder to looked at her, "Pixie..."

"I'm a monster, Bennie. I don' wan' anymore kids dyin' fer the sake of monsters." She pulled her signature black bandanna out of her pocket and forced it into his hands.

It took Bennie a minute to register what her gesture meant before he shook his head and tried to give it back to her, "Oh, no! No, no, no, Pixie you ca't do this!"

"I can an' I will." She looked away from him and frowned. "I 'ave to."

"They'll never follow me, Pixie."

"They ain't the same Maidens, Bennie." She turned away from him. "I 'ave a few thin's I need ta' take care of before I leave. We'll talk again before then." She started for the door.

"No, not like this Pixie! You can't just walk away like this! Fuck!" Bennie was panicking. Normally he wouldn't have a problem taking over command so long as it meant Pixie remained, but this was just fucked. Why did she have to leave? What did that accomplish. Then it hit him. "So you're just going to run off to Feroxi to die!? You're too much of a coward to face yourself?! Is that it, Pixie!? What about Sprout and Lilith!? What about your kids!? Answer me!"

Tears began to roll down Pixie's cheeks as she found the door, "You were a better parent to Sprout than I ever was." She sobbed as left the room with haste.

And like that, Bennie was left alone. Slumping down in a chair, he looked at the ragged black cloth in his hand.

"You crazy *****." He whispered to himself before closing his eyes and resting his head against the back of the chair.

It wasn't supposed to be this way.