Silver Spirits

There was an alarming silence on the seas as the crew of the Silver Spirit watched the ship beside them sink slowly into the ocean. The fight had lasted just a few minutes. The captain of the Spirit didn't like long, gruesome fights. Short and clean, spare nothing but who or what they came for. In this case, it was one prisoner in particular, bound tightly by rope and gagged so he couldn't scream out to his crew that would never see daylight again. As the prisoner was pulled onto the deck of The Silver Spirit, her crew spit and snarled at him, cackling and celebrating their victory against yet another of the trade vessels of Edmund Triggs and his newly popular company. A trade company that had been in the way, to say the least.

The crew stepped back as the prisoner was thrown to the ground and the gag removed, followed by a fit of coughing up sea water. The crowd when silent as a pair of heavy footsteps approached the coughing older man, who looked up at the silhouette of a man now hovering over him. He winced as he was rolled onto his back by a boot, now facing the man.

Percy was about as menacing on the outside as he was on the inside. He towered over his prisoner at nearly seven feet tall, built with enough muscle to snap a spine with one hand. And he wasn't modest in showing that off, either. He knelt down next to the coughing prisoner and gave him a half mile, offering him a hand to help him sit up. When the man refused, he was forcibly lifted up and set back on his feet, leaning against the mast of the ship for support.

"What's your name?" Percy demanded.

"You know who I am," the man grumbled.

"Yes, but I'm asking you anyways," Percy said, now putting a dagger to the already weak man's throat.

"Captain Bernard Clemens," he muttered, glaring at Percy.

"Good, we have the right man then," Percy grinned, sheathing the dagger. "We won't be taking very much of your time at all. You have something I'm looking for, and I think you know what it is."

Clemens squirmed where he was pinned to the mast, eyeing the men surrounding him in hopes of finding some means of escape, but he knew it was hopeless. He sighed and turned back to Percy, who was impatiently waiting for answers.

"I know what you want, and I can promise that it doesn't belong in the hands of filthy pirates," he responded between clenched teeth.

"Is it with you now?" Percy questioned.

"It was on the ship," Clemens informed him. "And thanks to your reckless orders to sink my ship, it's now at the bottom of the sea."

Percy narrowed his eyes at him, eventually chuckling and shaking his head. "This man thinks I'm the captain."

The crowd surrounding the two of them erupted into laughter as Percy nodded towards the quiet figure that had been leaning on the banister near them, watching and listening in silence. Clemens looked between Percy and the figure in surprise, squinting to make out the captain's features. It took him a moment, but he noticed rather suddenly what seemed so off. The captain was a young woman.

The crew moved aside as she pushed off the banister and started walking forward, the sound of the heels of her boots clicking against the wooden deck in the silence that had suddenly come over the ship. The only one who didn't step aside was Percy, but even he seemed to bow his head slightly. This was what confused Clemens, and in a way, frightened him. Percy was easily three times the size of the young woman. Why did he seem to be afraid of her? With the innocent pout on her pink lips and those big, curious eyes, she didn't seem like much of a threat.

She stepped forward, looking Clemens up and down and playing with the pendant on the end of her necklace as she examined him. He shifted uncomfortably at first, then stood tall and proud. He would not give in to this woman. The captain seemed alarmed by his sudden stiff behavior, glancing over her shoulder at Percy, who just shrugged. She then looked back at Clemens, staring directly into his eyes.

"He's lying," she said eventually, sighing. "He doesn't have it. I'm not sure he knows what we're talking about, either."

This time, Percy was the one to squirm. "I... well... I thought I was sure of it this time. That we'd get information, at least."

"Percival, save yourself the trouble," she smirked, shaking her head. "We'll discuss it later. For now, our guest is a little tired and confused. Give him some space, you idiots. Don't you lot have something better to do?"

Her crew sheepishly nodded and dispersed, much to the surprise of Captain Clemens. He looked back at the captain as she smiled and linked her arm with his, gently leading him away from the post he'd been pinned against. Percy watched them go, but didn't follow, keeping his arms crossed over his chest and lips pursed into a tight line.

"You must be confused," the captain began to explain. "They call me Scarlett Rose. You may have heard of me. And if not, you have now."

Clemens said nothing, just following her to the end of the ship, where she sighed and watched Clemens's vessel disappear beneath the waves.

"You see, there's this rumor about me that I am an immortal. The 'immortal Captain Scarlett'. Isn't that silly?" she grinned. "They say I can't die. Well, it's going to be quite embarrassing when I do die, won't it? You see, that's what I'm looking for. There is a legend of something ancient hidden somewhere forgotten. The one who possesses this artifact becomes an immortal. To find this ancient piece, there is a map, split into four corners and hidden in the four corners of the world. I have three of these corners, and one of my silly men gave me the impression that you were holding the fourth. It is on one of Triggs's ships, you see."

"I know nothing," Clemens repeated. "If it is in the possession of Edmund Triggs, he's keeping it secret."

"Oh, I understand," Scarlett nodded. "I would keep it a secret too, if I was him. I heard he's lost a lot, lately. They never did find his daughter, did they?"

Clemens looked away, and Scarlett nodded slowly, patting his shoulder gently. "That poor girl... A shame she should have to suffer, but you see, your employer did a lot to anger those in my line of work. It was the only way to get his attention."

"You know the whereabouts of Madeline Triggs?" Clemens asked.

"Last I heard, she was on her way to a slave market somewhere in the east," Scarlett shrugged. "Oh, but we're getting off track. You don't know anything about what I need, so who am I to keep you prisoner here? That would just be an unnecessary waste of time. Do tell me, were you a good captain?"

Clemens stared at her in confusion, but slowly and hesitantly nodded. "I have been sailing for nearly fifty years now."

"Oh, that's funny," Scarlett exclaimed. "Then why are you still here, while your ship is sinking down there? You know what they say about good captains."

"But I-"

Bernard Clemens wasn't able to finish his sentence when he was cut off by the dagger that had suddenly pierced through his stomach, with Scarlett's hand curled around the hilt. He stared at her with wide eyes as he struggled to keep his eyes open. Scarlett pouted and stood up on her tippy toes, leaning him forward to speak quietly in his ear.

"You better hurry if you want to catch up to your shipwreck."

With that, she let go of the dagger and pushed Clemens over the railing, leaning over to watch him splash into the ocean below. She heard the ship go silent, and turned to find everyone staring at him in both fear and amusement.

"Back to work, you filthy maggots!" she called out, her crew quickly going back to turning the direction of The Silver Spirit.

A smile creeped onto her face as she approached Percy again, who hadn't moved from his spot, eyes glued straight ahead. She tilted her head and looked up at him with a sad smile.

"You've failed me again, Percy," she said quietly.

"There's still one more ship on the list," he said quickly. "It's the only option left. If the fourth corner isn't there, it doesn't exist."

"You sound confident in this," Scarlett said, raising an eyebrow.

"I am," he responded, though he didn't sound so sure.

"I hope so," Scarlett said, smiling at him. "Your mother is a truly lovely woman. I'd hate to see her crying again, if she finds that she's lost yet another son. If you thought seeing her mangled eldest was bad, you should see what she'll do for her youngest."

As the color drained from Percy's face, Scarlett gave him a sweet smile and a quick kiss on the cheek before turning on her heel and heading back to her quarters. She knew that once she was gone, Percy would take care of navigating the ship to their next target, where she hoped to find the missing corner of the map neatly laid out on the desk. It needed to be there. Not just for Percy's sake, but for her own.