The Pirate's Legacy: New Horizons

Chapter 12: The Masters and the Students

The female voice spoke from the doorway, "Skentios, you have visitors."

The scientist carefully returned a small magnesium ball to the silver dish on the table in front of him. Over his shoulder, he said, "Thank you, Kim. Show them in." As his assistant disappeared down the stairs, Daryl Gallington slipped off his leather gloves. "I haven't received visitors in a while," he said aloud. Gloves clutched in one hand, he raised both arms above his head to stretch. "I wonder if it's the magistrate checking up on—wait no, Kim said visitors. Huh." His ears picked up the sounds of one set of footsteps climbing up the staircase. He dropped his arms back to his sides. Thinking he may have misheard his assistant, Daryl turned around with a wide smile to greet the magistrate only to see a scraggly version of himself enter the laboratory, followed silently by a tall, pale man with long wild curls and a familiar scar.

The gloves dropped to the floor. The cogs of his mind ground to a screeching halt. "You're not Magistrate Virequei," he uttered.

The man who looked like him cracked a familiar wicked grin. "Not that four-eyed owl," he said before throwing out his arms. "Don't stare at me as if ya seen a ghost! Are y'not gonna welcome me, brother?"

"Craig?" Daryl was nearly bowled over by the sheer force of his twin's embrace. When his mind finally caught up with him, he responded to the greeting in kind. "Craig! My gods, it's good to see you."

Craig stepped back and looked at his twin with a well-trained eye. "Wot the hell did they do to ye? Ye look an' smell like anuther Tick."

Daryl rolled his hazel eyes. "Well, you look like a bilge rat who took cover under a boat during a storm." He slipped out from under his twin's arms when he saw Craig's fist go for his head. "Honestly, you do look a bit worse for wear."

While his identical brother had fully immersed himself in the ways and wear of a former sailor, Daryl had reinvented himself upon making his home in Helaine's prestigious university. He wore the grey robes of Politickan scholars and scientists. His hair was shoulder-length, oiled and twisted artfully in a braid to keep it away from his clean-shaven face. In contrast, Craig's hair had been cropped close to the scalp. His jaw was outlined with rough stubble. Craig's skin had tanned darker since they last saw each other while Daryl's had become so light that only a yellow tinge remained of his former robust tan. His rough calluses and scars were the last remnants of his previous lifestyle.

Craig's good humor drained away. His face darkened, and his dry lips twisted into a scowl. "That's 'cause I came ferm a fight wit the Draconians in Pirata."

Daryl's eyebrows rose. Out of the corner of his eye, he noted Dread Pirate Robin ignoring the brothers in favor of perusing the laboratory. "Draconians in Pirata? How?"

"They came all o' a sudden and took it. Took all the ports." As he spoke, Craig's voice grew harsher and his face redder. "Those bloody bastards got the 'ole island in their scaly grasps. Wi tried to 'old 'em back, but they got Portunus workin' the waters for 'em." Craig squeezed his eyes shut for a moment before forcing out through his cracked lips, "Moira an' Cissy be in the hideout, but Cap'n says they can't 'old out very long 'fore it's found."

Daryl's stomach plummeted. "How terrible," he forced out. His hands went to his brother's slumped shoulders. "I'm sorry I wasn't there to help, but don't worry a thing about Moira. She won't let anything happen to either her or Cecelia."

"No, s'not that," Craig said, anger coloring his tone and his face. He shrugged off Daryl's hands. "I left 'em there. I shoulda stayed an' protected 'em—"

"No, if the battle was on water, then you couldn't have done a thing on land," said Daryl.

Craig twisted his mouth. "Kidd's dead. A tidal wave killed 'im."