Mate of the Phoenix

Chapter Eight

After introducing the twins to Oyaji and the rest of the crew, things on the Moby settled down a bit. A lot of them took turns babysitting when they weren't busy in order to give Marco and I a break. Especially Thatch. The ginger, to my surprise, was great with the girls. Always playing with them when he had the chance. He had freaked out even more than Marco when Sakura, after taking her first steps, had fallen down. Though the child simply laughed and tried again, not at all phased by it.

Now, having just turned four, the twins liked to run around the galley or halls as someone chased them.

Oyaji had kept a low profile for the most part. He hadn't wanted to attract any unwanted attention to us. Not to say that we hadn't run into any trouble in the past four years. We just mostly kept to the calmer areas of our territory until the twins were a bit older.

Sakura, with her blonde curls and grey eyes, was the more outgoing of the two. She loved helping her Uncle Thatch in the kitchens, often getting into trouble by helping the cook with pranks on the others. It drove Marco mad sometimes, but I knew he secretly loved the mischievous streak she had gotten from me.

Camilla was calmer. She usually had her teal eyes on a book as Marco taught her to read, his hand running through her raven hair. She still liked to cause trouble with her sister but definitely took after her daddy more than me. I often found the two seated together as he read to her out on the deck.

Hadrian, now 13, had grown to take his place as a big brother very seriously. He was now quite talented with a sword, too. Vista had trained him well, and he could now hold his own against over half of the crew.

I had also started teaching him actual magic after his eleventh birthday. Without a wand, he struggled slightly, but he was a quick learner. He would probably be on par with a sixth year student in everything but potions. I had just started him on seventh year material this year.

"How is the kid we picked up?"

I paused on my way to the galley at the sound of Izou speaking to someone. A few days ago, we had taken in the Spade Pirates after their captain had taught with Jinbe for five days straight.

Oyaji had been keeping an eye on the boy since his first bounty showed up. Now, him and his crew were on the ship, though they didn't seem happy about it. Who could blame them with Oyaji's habit of surprise adopting strays, though? It could be overwhelming for anyone.

"He tried to kill Oyaji again, yoi. I think this makes attempt number twenty," I heard Marco reply.

The boy, Ace, seemed hellbent on defeating Oyaji since he had woken up. I hadn't met him yet, but I did admire his determination.

Deciding to keep on my way, I walked to the galley where I knew the twins were with Hadrian. I was keen on getting some food for Ace and the other Spade Pirates since Thatch had told me the boy refused to eat anything given to him. After speaking with Deuce, Ace's first mate, the man had asked me to make sure that he was okay.

Grabbing the food, I asked Hadrian to take some to the other Spades as I let the girls follow me to where I figured the young captain was. I wasn't worried about them too much. While he was an angry kid, I was almost positive that the guy wouldn't harm them. He didn't seem the type from what I could gather. And Sakura had already met him while she had been hiding from Marco during one of their games. She had told me that he was really nice and had given her a cookie that he had 'stole' from the kitchens.

I hummed softly as I made my way to the back of the Moby, pausing when I saw Ace all but sulking while looking out at the sea. His aura held so much self-loathing that it made my heart ache for the child. All of 18 years old and already so troubled. It was sad.