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The news of disappearing ships finally spread and reached the Cove. Most of the regulars kept moving on; either it wasn't their business, or they didn't care for the misery of the humans above. The piano-playing fallen angel seemed a bit disheartened. Apparently one of the cargo ships carried his favorite brand of whisky, and to hear that he wouldn't receive his drink for even longer made the songs he played much more somber. The kirin in the corner playing mahjong -there were only two this time, most left for home- started muttering something in what sounded like either Mandarin or Japanese. The succubi at the corner couch started whispering and murmuring; no ships meant no men, and no men meant...

Behind a calm and composed face, Salna was deeply worried. While rumors of mutiny were afoot, so were the smaller, hushed whispers of pirates, looting ships, taking trees, and killing the workers. Pirates would often stop by the Cove if only to hide from the cops and get a drink, and then run off just as quickly. It was especially bad when a Denizen was here at the same time. Fights would break out, and repairs would take weeks... Nonetheless, she kept her calm mask up to not worry anybody. When people needed a steady anchor in times like this, good ol' Salna and her Red Mountain drinks would help keep the peace, if only for a while.


The Charon landed at the wooden dock sitting on the mother tree's roots again. Sitting on the deck, Penn was munching on some churros, which she had bought from the mall (along with clothes for Sin and, well, more churros). The ship was on autopilot; but then, 95% of the time it was always on autopilot, either due to the captain eating, napping, or taking care of pirates trying to nab her ship.

The ship's computerized wheel beeped twice, the signal that a ship has landed in the spot designated by coordinates, and disappeared, leaving only a wooden pedastal with a sleek black plating on top.

"Huh," Penn said, finishing the bag and promptly burning it in her hands. Seconds later it turned into ashes that smelled strongly of sugar. "We're here." She walked back to the inside of the ship to change into her captain's clothes, saying one last thing before she went inside: "Sin, go inside first if you'd like. Tell Salna that anything you order, put it on my tab." And with that she disappeared into the Charon.

Once more, all eyes turned to Sinsario for just a second. Even if the bar was non-humans only, it was still odd seeing an undead. Human... in shape only. And appearance. And mannerisms. And, well, everything but the breath of life in him (the only breath he has might be sea breath, but that's another tale, haha) so it was hard to find a proper reaction at times.

Salna understood the zombie's request, gave him the thumbs up, and began to prepare Long Island Ice Tea. Except she wasn't quite good at making regular beverages, so she secretly mixed in some rum and flavoring to hide said rum. She placed the cup filled with the ice tea on the bar and motioned him to sit down.

Penn jumped out of the boat, dressed in her captain's uniform and walking to the entrance to the Cove. And before she opened the door, the demon froze in her place and a question begged itself in her head: "What if there's a pirate in there now? What if..."

Penn shrugged it off and entered. Quickly enough, the mood lightened. The succubi started giggling, the fallen angel's piano playing became a touch more lively, and the kirin stopped mumbling. She sat next to Salna and greeted her; the barkeeper returned the greeting.

"I'm looking for some info, I was hoping you'd provide any," Penn started.

"What do you need?" Salna asked. "I've got my sources, and if I don't have it now I can contact you about it later."

Penn took a deep breath and mentioned one word: "Hastings."

The whole Cove went silent immediately. The air felt still and dry.

"Hastings... as in, the shipping company?"

"And the man himself. I heard the course he uses for his ships goes through a rather risky path."

"Yes, the Devil's Run... I think there's a skysurfer* here who can give you some info on-"

"Not the Run itself, Salna. The people hanging around the Run, if any."

"...You're thinking pirates have to do with all this human ruckus?"

"Essentially." Another deep sigh. Penn was losing her nerves; it was a slow process, but you could first see it by her trembling hands. "You know why."

"Right, right, that boy you always chased... and then he vanishes off the face of the earth."

In a low rasp, very low, Penn muttered, "If it's them who did away with my Kura... I want all their heads lined up on the Run, every last one, even if I have to do the bloody work myself."

"Tut, tut," Salna replied. She knew very well angering Penn was not a good idea, especially since it's known that she has Almasy blood in her veins (and that Ira, of all the Almasys, is her mother) and any further aggravation can result in not just a burned down Cove... but a burned tree, if the fire spread fast enough. "You shouldn't be so clingy. Learn to love and let go."

"Not so much love than vengeance." Penn's hands trembled further. Those with sensitive senses can feel the area around her, or a radius of a few inches around her, being significantly warmer than the rest of the Cove.

"Oh." Salna looked surprised, and then faced Penn eye to eye. "In that case... one or two pirate ships hang around the Run, but they can easily be fought off, even with a ship like your's."

"Really?"

"It's not an insult, honey. They're that pathetic. It could simply be that the ships happened to meet an unlikely end due to the Run's geography, nothing more."

"Could you get some info anyway?"

"...I'll try." She nodded twice. The Cove went back to normal, and the heat around Penn dissipated. "Would you like anything?"

"Sweet and Sour, on the rocks."

"On your tab?"

"I always pay."

"Of course~." And so Salna prepared Penn's drink, involving a cocktail of wines and vodkas. After adding what looked like dry ice to the mug, she added a drop of a clear liquid. If you put your nose to it, it had the faintest scent of almonds. She wasn't poisoning Penn, oh no, it was just enough that the cyanide wasn't entirely poison. The barkeeper served it to Penn, and Penn in turned thanked her with a small nod before chugging.

*Skysurfers are people who use modified ships to act as surf boards. Their casimir trees are usually casimir vines for need of mobility and so that pirates don't yank off the casimir and the ship plummets.

Penn finished her drink as well. It didn't take long, and the poison was a nice touch. They say the villains always make the best stuff.

A knock came from the door, and then another. Salna looked towards the door and motioned the angel to open it. He got up, silent as always, and walked over. The knocks became more violent and rapid. And when the angel opened the door, he got knocked on the head five times in rapid succession.

"PEEEEEEENNNNNNNNNN!" was the bellow heard from the doorway.

"Oh god, no..." Penn put her head down as well, tiny top hat falling to the counter. "It's him, it's him...!"

"Rascal, what are you doing here?" Salna cried.Her face displayed a mix of confusion and horror, and you couldn't blame her. The man at the door was a demon, and he was wearing extremely flamboyant clothes, including ribbons in his ram-lie horns.

"I came to visit Penny!" He rushed over to the captain -and it happened so fast, too, he almost tore off the angel's toga- and hugged her, while Penn still kept her face hidden in shame. "I heard you stopped by the Cove so I dropped by, too!"

A low squeak came from Penn: "Siiiiin, heeeeeelp."

"Hmm?" Said queer looking fellow noticed the blue man's hand on his shoulder, and then noticed he had blue skin. "Are you a dark elf? And if so, where are your ears?"

"He's undead, Rascal," Salna told him.

"Oh. Well, nice to meet you, undead guy!' He continued to hug Penn like one would hug an adorable teddy bear, until Penn punched Rascal in the guy. The demon backed off, took a deep breath, and looked at the undead man. "So why are you with Penniper here? Surely she ditched that human for a nice non-human like you, right?"

"Rascal!" Salna and Penn cried in unison. That was just below the belt.

"You're right, sorry. He does smell a bit of sea salt..." And then his hat feather spontaneously combusts, thanks to Penn glaring at it long enough (see: five seconds). Rascal, co-captain of the Irish Sun, was a few cards short of a deck, you see.

The demon quickly plucked the feather out of his hat and stomped out the fire with his boot. He sighed afterwards; there was very little in the way of understanding this girl. She went against almost everything her parents raised her to be. He should know, he's her childhood friend. Kind of.

"Sin. I'm going to give you this warning once. Only once." She turned to face her shipmate and told him: "Only four people in the world can call me by that name: my parents, my butler, and him. And if you're thinking it's Raspun here, then you're very wrong." She turned back around to put her head down, but not before asking Salna to give her another Sweet and Sour, this time with stronger liquor.

"Here's a tip for you," Salna whispered to Sin, "while their true and 'captain' names do sound silly, the demon's tongue is very hard to pronounce, let alone translate. That's about as close of a translation as you'll get." Then she attended to Penn's request.

"Oh, your ship was totaled? Sad, really. But I don't know why you're on Penn's dinky old-world ship when you can join me and the Cap'n on the glorious Irish Sun!" He took a whimsical victory pose, which made the dwarves in the back laugh, same with about everyone else. He was the poster boy of the attention whore, and not once did he not mind. "Better food, better accommodations, and air conditioning!"

And upon finishing that statement, someone else barged in: a six-foot cat standing on its hind legs with a distinct forked tail. It happened almost immediately, actually: one minute Raspun van Derelin was standing between Penn and Sin, and the next, he was gone, same with the cat.

The Sweet and Sour sitting on the bar table was finally recognized by the redhead, and she muttered something in her language, which sounded like a hiss, a rasp, and then a cough before uttering one recognizable word: "...Merupo."

"We need to get out of here." Penn gets up -she can tell Sinsario is utterly confused by the tone of his voice- and she takes out another small bag, this time heavier and with something jingly inside.

"Paying the tip now? That's not like you," Salna tells Penn.

"I know, but we might as well go to the Devil's Run, at least before Raspun finds us again. I don't like torching people..."

"Very well." Salna takes the small bag and sticks it under the counter, bidding her two customers farewell.

"Sin. If you have any questions, please ask them. I can understand how that moment was rather... confusing. We're heading to the Devil's Run." She walks out of the Cove, off the dock and onto her ship. Finding coordinates, searching the built-in map for that deadly geographic area...

And from there, everyone else minded their business.