It was a nice name, all things considered. Perfectly ambiguous, allowing one to become whoever it is they wanted. "Miss Sunday," she muttered. "That will do."
What was needed was the means to truly board the ship. There were ways, of course, especially now that the ship had taken a beating from the earth. Without a doubt, she could sneak in... might be harder, but not impossible. Geni stretched her fingers. "Time to get on with it."
"Get on with what?" said a lazy voice, male, cold in a certain murderous manner.
Mist! She froze, arms snapping up. "Peace?" she exclaimed.
"Who are you?" the stranger asked.
Now!
"God, the manners on you," Geni spat. "Isn't it customary to introduce yourself first before asking someone else? By the sister, did your mother not train you well?"
There was a moment of silence, annoying. One could never guess the reaction words had on the mind of a stranger. This man, for all she knew, could very easily become enraged by the phrase used. Would I suddenly lose my head before even getting on the ship? The Tears were ready. Daena would be livid.
Finally, the man spoke. "Bane." He stepped closer; she heard it. "Bane of the Terror."
"Ah," she exclaimed. "Got myself in bed with a pirate."
"Not yet," he corrected. "Turn around... slowly."
Geni obliged, hands still reared, but turning. Soon, she stood before her recent captor. By the heavens, he was a disappointment of a character. Nothing at all like what she expected from the supposed second-in-command of Auron Odium.
The fellow, Bane, was thin with an unassuming, timid face. Cold dark eyes with shortened, blood-red hair. Well, not fully of that shade; "almost" was the right term. He was dressed in a simple white shirt, black trousers, and a dark leather vest. All of which, like him, were unimpressive.
Of course, that did not apply to the large black axe that was mounted on his back. The thing was nearly her total height. How in the world was he able to swing that? She would love to ask him that question. Would he respond? she wondered.
"So?" A wild smile curled up on his face. "What was that about a bed?"
Her hand swung down. "Seriously?" She sighed. "You see a girl on a mountain staring at your crashed ship, and the first thought in your mind is getting some bedding... what is wrong with you?"
The man frowned. Lords above, he should really want to kill her now. He did cock his head. "Do you know something about the crash?"
She shrugged. "I reckon the storm did you in. Maybe fried some brains, too."
Would that enrage him?
He smacked his lips. "Who are you, what are you doing here?"
He's gentle for a pirate, she chimed. "Got no skyship like you lot, and my last crew got murdered by a Fallen. So anyway, here I am, stuck on an island with nothing to do but watch out for falling ships."
"You don't seem like you have been here for long."
Geni heaved within. Perhaps unintentional on his part, he had, however, revealed they had no systems or counter for the lightning. That reduced her chance of being viewed as a suspect for the act. "Makes my job a lot easier."
"What?"
"Eh?" She glanced at him... Mist, I spoke out!
His right arm rested on the head of the axe. "What job is that?"
"I'm a Fixer, you see." She scrambled for words. "So I think, maybe, just maybe..." She leaned in, exposing her bosom. "I can get on that ship with you... after I've helped you fix it, of course."
"Convenient."
"Them's the ways of the Almighty!" She clapped. "He knew I needed a ride, so he struck down one."
His eyes narrowed. Suspicion.
"Ah, come on." She punched him on the arm. He was startled. "Let's help each other out. I get a ride—who knows—and, yes, of course, I fix up your ship."
He grinned now—a mad one. "You want to be a slave?"
Geni marshaled her mind, stimulating a sense of fear through her bones. The result came as a head laced with cold sweat. "Uhm," she stammered. "Okay, okay, seems there's been some mistake. I ain't no slave. I'm a free woman, you know. This here is a deal between two people. Understand?"
He pulled his axe completely, the giant thing thudding on the ground. "You will be coming with me now."
"Hey, we haven't agreed to anything."
He went cold, his axe swift—faster than her eye could track—inches away from her throat. She froze. Now, that caused a surge of panic.
"Will you come, or will you continue ranting like an animal?"
Does he suspect me? Geni bit her lip. There's no reason to. I didn't give him any clues to it. She sighed within. "You're not going to be killing me, right?"
"If I so deem it, yes."
"Eh." She smiled weakly. "Little Miss Sunday might just be dying today, it seems."
She lowered her head. Well, at least, some version of the plan worked... she realized. I'm getting onto the ship now. Either as a slave or as a crewmate.
—
Geni was escorted down the mountain, Bane ever present behind her, often pushing the axe at her back. A gentle reminder that he was most likely going to kill her. Real scary stuff. At least, it was for the first three times, but after he had done it fifteen times over, it became rather bootless. Downright annoying.
He nudged her again. "Would you quit it!"
"You hold little fear for someone that's most likely about to die."
That's because Miss Sunday would not be afraid of someone like you. Miss Sunday has survived countless of your type. Of so-called powerful, dreadful pirates.
She had sailed the black seas, toppled skyships, and roamed from crew to crew like some rat without a home. Without a doubt, Miss Sunday was a woman of great internal strength.
Geni chuckled. All bullshit, of course. There was no Miss Sunday. No adventures, no "great internal strength." All of this was a product of the Caster's might. The complete and total control of one's mind opens up a horde of opportunities.
The character traits, however, had been created by Daena, and some wanting DeadEyes. This person, as it turns out, was the most likely identity to not get immediately murdered by Bane or Auron. That is, if she were ever caught sneaking in.
Except, what was the point of having a whole new identity if she did not show it off? She nodded within. It was like having a new set of clothes with nowhere to wear them. Unacceptable.
She smirked. "You know, this situation reminds me of a fellow I met a while back... a guy from the Neck-slitters."
There was a startle in his breath.
"Illyrio the Drunk, I think they called him." She laughed. "You know, for a man with such a title, he could not handle his liquor."
"You knew him?"
"Knew him?" She turned widely, staring Bane in the eye. "He literally had me caught like this. Was going to rape me and then kill me, you know."
He smirked. What a bastard.
She continued. "But by a turn of fate, we got into a drinking game... I really wasted his crewmates, you know. None could compete against me. Not even him." She whirled, walking on. "So basically, he ended up not raping me at all. Funny, I was the one to put the mighty pirate to sleep. Ah, what a fellow he was."
Bane stopped for a moment. "Was, yes."
She eyed him. "What you got there, boy?"
"Illyrio is dead!"
"By the Heavens!" she exclaimed. "When? How? Where? Lords above, who could have?"
Bane closed his eyes for a moment. "Some man from the Tide Guards."
Man?
"A brutish fellow, I think," he said. "Dark-skinned, smelled of seaweed and moss."
What?
Bane sighed. "Well, I suppose only a madman could have done that to the drunkard."
She was stunned. He saw that. "What's wrong?"
I'm not a brute... "I would miss our drinks, you know. He had the finest liquor from the Honeycomb Islands."
"I see." He smirked. "You don't care that he is dead, no?"
"Wasted liquor is in itself a tragedy."
"I see."
Geni smiled within. "So what you plan on doing with me, exactly?"
"That's for my Captain to decide."
"Is that so?" She bobbed her head. "So what's the name of this captain? Who in damnation am I meeting now?"
He paused, maintaining silence for a moment... then, "Auron Odium!"
On cue, they stepped out of a clearing, standing before the crashed red ship. So massive it was compared to her. Like a dot standing before a mountain. She trembled. "You must be joking, right?"
"Oh?" Bane smirked. "Fear from Miss Sunday?"
"Why didn't you tell me your captain was the Master of the Terror?"
His face twisted now, into a horrible madness. "CAUSE I WANTED TO SEE THE LOOK ON YOUR FACE!"
Geni almost laughed. Hold it in. She dropped to her knees. "Oh, my God. Almighty above."
Bane was laughing hysterically. "YES!"
She closed her eyes. "This can't be happening."
"AFRAID NOW?"
"Why do I have to get a ship that's so dirty?"
"What?"