It was unreal to me how such a small and weightless card could have so much money packed into it. I asked Jack how much was on it, and he said and I quote. ‘Just go wild with it.’ Zack said he would text me any updates he had on Leo. So far all Leo has done is sleep in an alleyway. I had to fight the urge to go and help the poor kid. But if he had a secret agenda, I needed to catch him plotting. I was a little apprehensive to leave such a delicate mission to Zack. However, I talked to Bean myself and I trust him a lot more than Zack.

So I skipped school today and decided to go shopping. So far I bought enough food to fill our fridge, then I gave out some food to the homeless ( Zack roasted me for it). After that I decided to buy Lux a laptop. Then I got Valentina a star wars hoodie, as a kind of thank you gift. I held off on buying anything until tomorrow. I figured I would take Zack's suggestion to heart and take her shopping. Anything to get out of the hospital setting…

I was walking down the road to my last stop. Zack and I hadn’t been back to this place in years. Since Zack got us banned from here that is. I looked up at the sign, and there it still was. Daniros Pasta house. It was a small red building at the end of the road. The red paint on the buildings was peeling now. I remember it being so much more colorful. I wondered if he’d recognized me now.

I took a breath and looked over the old wooden door. So many memories in this place. I slowly reached out and opened the door. The ringing of the bell echoed throughout the empty store. I caught them just as they were opening.

“O-oh just a second!” I heard a burly deep voice call out from the back.

The shop was old fashion. The chairs and tables all looked like something you see in a history museum about the nineteen-eighties. All glazed over with a red, white and green paint that’s faded with the years. The only thing that hadn’t worn out through the years was the smell. Just as inviting and mouth watering as I remembered.

“H-hello! Take seat anywhere you li-”

A husky man in a dirty white apron came out. He was hairy, with streaks of white hair scattered about on his head. He stopped talking to me and just stared in my direction. Oh crap he recognized me!

“H-hey” I stammered out. “Long time no see, it’s me Stry-”

“Ah Stryder my boy!” He cheered happily. “It’s been years! You're looking good! How’s Lux?”

“Ah, she’s doing good. She actually got a scholarship for university, she’s in med school now.’ I replied as I stepped in more.

“Oh that’s fantastic!” He cheered.

“Yeah.” I took a breath and relaxed some. “ Hey, do you remember that day Zack ordered hundreds of dollars in food? And then dined and dashed?”

His happy expression slowly began to fade to an owl like scowl.

“That little..” He growled.

“Well, since I took part in that I-”

“No no no Stryder you're fine!” He pleaded as his voice became calm again.

“No It’s not fine. You helped me and my sister out a lot when we didn;t have money. And I aided in stealing from you.I recently got a lot of money given to me. So I figured it only be right to pay you back for that.”

He sighed and closed his eyes, scratching his beard for a moment. Seemingly thinking hard about something. I took a few more steps closer to him.

“Tell ya what. I’m only gonna charge you for the food you actually ate. And in return, you and Zack come by here sometime. Help the business out.” I went to object to what he was saying. But I could see he wasn’t gonna have it.

I sighed and nodded. “Deal.” I said as I took out my card.

I smiled as memories of when Zack and I used to come here . I should totally bring Annual down here when she’s fully okay. We all could eat here together once she’s okay.

WIth that, I paid him and caught up for a bit. It was nostalgic to get to see and talk to him like this again. Sadly I didn’t have all the time in the world to talk. It was around nine thirty when I said my goodbyes to him.

As I was walking back home, I texted Zack that I was forcing him to pay Daniros back. He sent me back a sad face emoji. Then a smirking face.

“I’ll just ball out at his restaurant and actually pay him this time. Let the girls know Zack is balling.” He texted back to me.

I rolled my eyes and began looking over the phone. There was no doubt in my mind that this phone was being monitored. Plus the money was for sure being tracked and monitored. But at this point what did all that really matter? They knew my name, my face, my family. They have a man on the inside whose dating my sister, plus they have Annual. If they really wanted to attack, or threaten us, we had no choice anymore. On the other hand, this was a good opportunity to get information on Arthur. Plus throw monkey wrenchs into things. The phones, the cards, even Jack can be used against them one way or another. I thought about Icaruses for a moment.

I wondered how much Arthur actually knew about him. If he truly managed to stay hidden this whole time. I wonder what Arthur thinks of him. Come to think of it, I wonder what Jack thinks of him. He seems to admire and respect him alot. No, it’s more than that. His reaction when he was fighting. He was desperate to try and save him.

THUNK!

“AH!”

I roared as I walked straight into a street sign. Followed by Zacks obnoxious laughter.

“Earth to einstein!” He chuckled out

I growled and rubbed my now throbbing head.

“Your timing is actually impeccable.” I grumbled.

I turned around to Zack, and I was a little surprised by the sight before me.

Zack was wearing a new outfit. He had a burgundy sleeveless jacket on, a white T-shirt and light brown joggers. Plus a pair of burgundy red Van hightops. I looked him over up and down. Then I looked at my own shabby blue hoodie and my worn out shoes. Maybe I should consider going shopping…

“You like the new fit?” Zack asked smugly as he tugged on his jacket collar.

“It’s pretty Zack, I’ll say that..”

“Once this whole meet is over, I’m gonna give you a makeover.” He chimed. “I’m thinking a skater look will look good on you.”

“As long as I can still fight in it. That’s all that matters.”

“Pfft, you want a girlfriend at some point right?”

I felt the heat rise to face as he said that.

“W-what do clothes have to do with that!?”

“Everything. Ever wonder how guys who got step dad bodies get girls? It’s the swag. If you wore more tight fitting stuff and showed off your only good asset, I'm sure girls would like you. Well at least talk to you. Your personality, and..your overall Stryderness is still babe repellent.”

“Just like how your brain is knowledge repellent?”

I asked with legitimate concern in my eyes.

“I swear, if only everyone knew how sassy you were.” Zack huffed.

“I see you two are always this annoying.”

I heard the exasperated voice of Leo coming from behind us.

“And here comes lizard breath.” Zack grumbled.

I just elbowed him.

“Leo, you ready to take us?” I asked as he got ahead of us.

“Yeah, by the way next time you want to tail someone. Get something quieter”

Leo groaned.

I turned to Zack, whose eyes were wide in shock.

“I thought Bean was just paranoid..”

“What?” I asked.

“Bean said it was like Leo could see him. But I thought he was just paranoid.”

“Hurry up losers.” He groaned.

“I think we’ll get there a lot faster if we take Bean.” I suggested.

Leo stopped walking and shrugged.

“Whatever.”

….

We flew around for about an hour. I hadn’t even been to this part of town before. We were passing by what seemed to be an abandoned area. We zoomed past the woods for a while until we came across an old deselent road. Then we passed an abandoned car that was overgrown by nature. It looked like it was from the nineteen fifties. This was strange, I’ve explored all over the city. But I’ve never even heard of this route.

“That was a nineteen sixties cadillac!” Zack cheered excitedly.

“Bean! Remember to grab that on our way back!”

“Do you know how to work on cars?” I asked.

“A bit, my dad used to be a mechanic before he became a druggy. So I learned a thing or two from him. Plus it helped rob parts from people.” He chuckled.

“Interesting...”

I looked ahead again and I could see us coming upon a small city. The sun shined brightly over what seemed to be a dystopian area. There was a strip of buildings to our left that looked caved in and deselent. Vines and moss covered over them. The concrete looked like nature was having it’s revenge. Weeds and sunflowers were poking out of the cracks. To the left was a huge body of water. I wasn't sure if this was connected to the ocean, or was just a big river. I could see an old and broken down doc nearby as well.

“The hell is this place?”

“I have no idea..” I replied.

Then something off in the distance caught my attention. Something big and dark was coming closer from the sky. I would think it was a plane. But it was way too wide. Leo stood up and pointed toward the sky.

“And there it is. The Flying Dutchman.” Leo said as Bean slowly came to stop.

The black shadowy mass burst through the clouds. And suddenly Leo's title made a lot more sense. It was a ship, a gigantic ship! There was a black flag with a skull on it, twirling around in the wind.

“A flying pirate ship?” Zack sighed. “You know what, why the hell not.”

“H-how does it fly?”

“Are you really asking in a magical battle royal. Where you can dodge bullets, and fly on a goblin. How does an obvious magic ship fly?”

I went to open my mouth, but I really didn’t have a valid argument.

“Fair enough.” I

All three of us stared at the sky in disbelief as the ship slowly descended down to the docs. The air pressure coming down shook the waves and the wind around us. Until it finally crashed into the water. So this, this was my first impression of the seven swordsman. Possibly a pirate. Who can manipulate a ship.

I was already intimidated.

We watched as three silhouettes appeared on the railing. Then all three leaped off. One flying off, seemingly carried by the wind. While the other two looked like meteorites coming down and crashed onto the shore line. While the other floated over to us. It became clear that it was a girl.

She had ember locks that flared in the wind. However her bold sea green eyes were what stuck out most to me. As she got closer, I could see the freckles splatter across her face. She landed right in front of me. She was inches from me. She carried the subtle scent of sea salt on her.

“Oh moy gawsh, yaw even cutah in puhs'n!”

Oh my gosh she had an Australian accent. I felt the heat rise to my cheeks. She stared deeply into my eyes. Was this the chick the one who owned the boat? Should I be prepared to fight? And what about the other two behind her? I looked over at the girl again, and I could see her big charismatic smile. It was unreal how pretty she was.

“P-pretty thank power ship.” I mumbled out.

What...What did I just say…?

“And you pulled a Stryder..” Zack sighed.

The girl giggled and stepped back.

“Adahable!” She cheered.

“And I’m the devilishly handsome destroyer of worlds, Zack.” He moved his hand into his hair and combed it back.

He raised his eyebrows up and down at her and grinned. And she giggled with a slight blush.

And there goes Zack...I’m such a failure...

“Noice t' mayt yah two! moy nuyme's Elizuybeth! numbah foah of the saeven swohdsmahn.”She Chimed happily.