Thea

“You banished four of my guards. Explain yourself,” Captain Aoyama demanded, and Zen visibly tensed despite trying his best to keep his cool.

Apparently, he had only just realized what us standing there actually meant for the people guarding the door. Or maybe he just somehow forgot that the vampire was still sitting next to him. Either way, it was pretty clear which of the two was in charge. Even in the poor guy’s bar.

“I came here to discuss an urgent issue, and didn’t feel it was necessary to deal with them properly.” Bryce maintained eye contact with the captain, and I did my best to look intimidating. “I’d be happy to discuss compensation for time and materials lost after this matter has been resolved, but not before.”

“Captain, allow me to introduce you to Doctor Bryce Virra, and her devil partner Thea.” Zen Introduced us while giving Bryce an appraising look. “Doctor Virra was behind the Para Vista incident that I was telling you about, as well as the one I believe to most likely be responsible for Captain Leo’s death.”

“You were the one who killed Leon?” Captain Aoyama asked. Her expression was really hard to read, but she seemed almost excited at the idea. That or she was hungry and thought that Bryce looked tasty. Like I said, she was kind of hard to read.

Bryce didn’t even hesitate before answering. “A member of my crew dealt the killing blow prior to destroying his ship. I wasn’t involved.”

“Sora, if I had to guess,” Zen told Aoyama before turning back to us. “Do you know if they’re planning to contest you for the kill?”

Bryce glared at the human. “We’re not here to discuss the empty seat on the council. A mercenary working for you attacked my ship while I was away and took three members of my crew. One of them is still missing.”

He just shrugged. “Sorry, but Anali wasn’t working for me. She was fulfilling a bounty put out by one of the Syndicate leaders. I had nothing to do with it.”

“He’s lying.” I turned up the heat as I took a step forward. Captain Aoyama tilted her head to the side, but didn’t take her eyes off Bryce.

“Is this true? Zen, are you lying?”

Zen shifted in his seat, but answered after a few seconds of silence. “I didn’t lie, but might have stretched the truth somewhat when I said I had nothing to do with it. Anali contacted me a couple of days ago, wanting to set up a meeting with Maymi. The two have a not-so-friendly history together, so I had her explain the situation before I agreed to anything.”

“When is this meeting taking place?” Bryce asked, and Zen shook his head.

“Can’t say. Anali came to me with this job precisely because she didn’t want you tracking her down. I tell you, then people start saying I can’t be trusted and I’m out of the job.”

“Well, I guess there’s not much of a point in keeping you around then.” Bryce conjured her fancy magic sword, and I grabbed Captain Aoyama’s wrist to stop her as she darted forward. The captain had managed to get a long, thin blade only centimeters from Bryce’s throat.

“I will not sit idly by while you threaten a man under my protection.” She tried to pull her wrist away, but I didn’t let go. She was definitely strong, and super fast, but I had a lot of mana flowing through me, and there was no way I was going to give her a chance to attack again.

“He’s holding back information that threatens the life of my crew,” Bryce said as she took a step forward, into the blade. The thin metal pushed up against her neck and bent on her shield, punctuating what she said next. “If you believe his life is more valuable than that of my crew, than I’d be happy to challenge you for it. Otherwise, you can either order him to tell me, or stand aside while I extract the information myself.”

I was pretty sure that Bryce was bluffing, but it definitely didn’t look that way, and Captain Aoyama seemed to agree.

“Why did Anali choose to meet with Maymi if their relationship is, as you have described, ‘not-so-friendly’?”

Zen hesitated, but did eventually answer. “Virra’s missing person is an ex-syndicate lord, who didn’t have a job out for her capture. Anali couldn’t contain her and didn’t have enough political weight to deal with the fallout. Maymi has long-standing deals with the syndicate and enough resources in her modest fleet to safely move her. She was a sensible choice.”

“And do you have any outstanding arrangements with Maymi?” Captain Aoyama asked without taking her eyes off my unmoving girlfriend.

“Not at the moment.”

“In that case, would it not be acceptable to arrange a meeting between Maymi and Captain Virra after Anali has been removed from the equation?”

“No, it’s not acceptable,” I interrupted the weird almost-negotiation. “Anali attacked our friends. There’s no ‘removing her from the equation’ unless it’s me killing her.”

“You are more than welcome to deal with Anali how you see fit outside of my territory, but while you are here, you will abide by my rules and you will not threaten the people under my protection.” The vampire finally deemed me worthy of her attention, and I grinned back at her.

“Thea, I believe we have room to negotiate here. Would you mind releasing the captain?” Bryce asked, but I wasn’t about to let her get away with threatening us scot-free. I channeled mana into the hand holding her wrist and held it for a few seconds, even after she flinched and tried to pull away.

“Thea!”

I finally let go, leaving a visible handprint where I had burnt away a surprising amount of flesh. “Sorry, Bryce, I forgot how weak some people can be. I’ll try to be more delicate the next time she attacks you.”

“I have the feeling that you lack the meaning for the word ‘delicate’, something that I will not soon forget.” She held up the damaged wrist as muscle and skin knitted itself back together over top the exposed bone. Once there wasn’t so much as a blemish left, she turned back to Bryce. “I understand that you are in a difficult situation, so I will forgive the transgression this time. However, if you intend to operate on Paradise in the future, then I suggest you take a more political approach.”

I was about to point out that she was the one who attacked us, but Bryce agreed with her before I could. “I understand, and I think you’ll find that I’m a lot more accommodating when the lives of my crew aren’t at risk.” She dismissed her sword so that she could safely cross her arms to glare at the vampire.

“In that case, let us remove that particular obstacle before we begin discussing things in earnest.” Captain Aoyama moved back to the couch to sit near Zen. “I will not hand over Anali to you for her execution. If you are interested in a peaceful outcome, then I can arrange a meeting for the two of you. However, if that is not an option, then I can instead arrange a meeting with Maymi before she turns your crewmate over to the syndicate. But I can not guarantee the outcome will be favorable. Maymi does not operate within my territory, which gives me no right to command her toward a desired resolution.”

“Whose territory does she operate out of?” Bryce asked, and Zen was the one to answer.

“Her own. Maymi is one of a number of independent fleet captains without representation on the council, despite controlling a moderately sized sector on Paradise. You can generally expect her to honor a request by the council, but rarely a demand.”

“What if we choose to pursue Anali after retrieving our crew?”

“That will not be permitted while she is on Paradise,” Captain Aoyama answered Bryce’s question before explaining. “Anali is a freelancer, but she regularly completes jobs for Zen. He has vouched for her, and he is under my protection, which means she is under my protection as well. If you wish to continue this feud without forcing me to intervene, then you will take it off Paradise.”

“So, if we find and kill her while she's not on Paradise, then you’ll be fine with it?” I asked, more than a little incredulously.

“I will not interfere under those circumstances,” Aoyama claimed, but Zen didn’t seem convinced.

“Anali and her crew are some of the best damn lancers I have on roster. If you find her off Paradise, it’s because she wanted you to find her, and failed goddess or not, I wouldn’t like your chances in a fight she’s prepared to take.”

“You are mistaken, Zen. If Captain Virra were a failed goddess, she would already be dead. I believe that she is a mantle candidate. She may yet still ascend.”

“What exactly is a mantle candidate?”

“How long will it take to set up a meeting with Maymi?” Bryce ignored Zen’s question to ask her own.

He gave a disgruntled sigh before answering. “Three days, no sooner. That will give you plenty of time to negotiate with her after she finishes her deal with Anali.”

“And more than enough time for Anali to run and hide,” I added, but Zen just shrugged.

“That’s the deal. If you don’t like it, then find someone else to act as middleman.”

“Three days is fine,” Bryce agreed again before I could complain, so I settled for giving the human a mean look. It seemed like it was working, because he was definitely trying to avoid eye contact with me. “Then I only have one question left, what’s all this going to cost?”

“I want you to verbally commit to joining the council. Here and now.” Captain Aoyama demanded, and Bryce just stared at her.

“Excuse me?”

“We accept!” I exclaimed, and Bryce covered my mouth as she pulled me back into her. I let her do it, if only to stop myself from laughing out loud.

“We most certainly do not. Before I even consider the request, you need to tell me why.”

“The authority of the council has been waning over the last millennium as captains cede their territory to independents like Maymi. Leon was only the most recent example of this, and I have serious doubts as to Nora’s capabilities should she be allowed to take his place. This loss of authority has caused Paradise to become little more than an inconvenience to the syndicate, rather than a force to be feared. If it is allowed to continue, then it will only be a matter of time before they determine the inconvenience to outweigh the potential cost of dealing with us permanently.”

Captain Aoyama paused to give what she said time to sink in, then continued a few moments later. “It is clear to me that you have no love for the syndicate, and should you ascend, the addition of a goddess to our ranks would lend significant authority to our position within the Network.” She smirked before adding one last argument. “Before you dismiss me as an idealistic fool who is soft in the head, I assure you my reasons are purely selfish. Having a single other voice of reason among my peers would do wonders for my personal sanity.”

I looked up at Bryce as she chewed on the inside of her cheek. She was seriously considering the offer, which kind of surprised me. She had been very against joining Captain Penn’s fleet when Jax offered earlier, and while this was definitely way different, it would still mean becoming a pirate. Or something like one. I wasn’t exactly sure what being on a pirate council would mean.

“I won’t commit to joining without first speaking to my crew, and even if they agree, I won’t guarantee anything past learning what the position entails.”

Aoyama nodded a little reluctantly. “I am willing to give you until the end of the next cycle to discuss this with your crew. Return here once you’ve made your decision. However, if you do not commit to joining the council by that deadline, then Zen will not arrange the meeting with Maymi, and you will no doubt be forced to resort to dealing with the syndicate on your own to retrieve your missing crew.”

“Very well, we’ll be in contact.” Bryce let go of me as she turned to leave. I followed her through the curtain and back into the hall that led to the bar.

“Why are you worried about joining the council? It sounds like they can help us with Mother, and it’s not like we really have anything to do after that. Plus, I bet it would totally kick ass.”

“Thea, I think you’re forgetting about the multiple bounties I still have on my own head. Something I have to imagine joining a council of pirates would only exasperate.”

“It would still kick ass though,” I muttered as we descended the stairs into the eerily quiet bar. All the tables had been moved from the center of the room, and the staff was nowhere to be seen. Instead, dozens upon dozens of contracted demons and heavily armed mortals were standing shoulder to shoulder in formation, creepily still.

We slowed at the bottom of the stairs but didn’t stop. The group didn’t say anything, choosing to just stand there menacingly while staring at the two of us.

I waved at them a little hesitantly. “Hey guys, we were just on our way out. If you wouldn’t mind making a path for us, I’d super appreciate it.”

Bryce continued moving, with me following. As we got to be less than a meter from the mob, they stepped aside, allowing us just enough space for us to pass through single file. It felt like an eternity before we made it out of the bar, and I let out a sigh of relief as we reached the crowded streets.

“What in the actual fuck was that about?”

“That was a warning against ever pulling a stupid stunt like that again.” Bryce shook her head as she mirrored my relieved sigh. “Come on, let’s head back. I think we’re going to be pushing up against the midnight time limit.”