Patchwork

The Lost Hero

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Benjamin walked aboard the ship, battling an increasing sense of unease. The ship seemed filled with familiar, yet totally odd, faces. He thought he saw Dominik, and a few other of the crew members from Nereida's ship. Benjamin gazed at each of them evenly, doing his best to restrain the monstrous butterflies living in his stomach.

"Who's that?" Dominik- no. Dominik's Shadow asked. Benjamin was very forcefully reminded of when he was first introduced to Dominik. Good thing he knew how to handle the faunus now.

"It's your indomitable leader," Benjamin replied calmly. "The Player- or his Shadow, if one was in the mood for meticulousness." Benjamin unslung the huge shuriken from his back and inspected its edge. "Do you have a problem with that?"

"No," Dominik replied, almost nervously. Benjamin returned the shuriken to his back, smiling. Big weapons always made for a badass look. The rest of the crew looked on approvingly.

"Let's have Nereida take a look at you," One of them said, and before he knew it Benjamin had been shoved into the captain's cabin. Sitting on a bed was Nereida, but like with Rudolf, she was twisted. She wore a cocky expression, and even though her blue eyes sparkled, she didn't seem happy, just cold.

"New crew member, eh?" She asked. Benjamin didn't reply. "Name?"

"Benjamin. I'm the Player." He answered. "Or, his Shadow."

"Obviously," she replied. She was smiling now, in a sneaky manner that made Benjamin suspicious. "Welcome to my crew, Player. Lost you arm?" Benjamin nodded. "How?"

"I... well, I was in a battle." Benjamin replied, trying for a snort. "I thought someone as clever as yourself would be able to work that out."

"But which kind of battle?" Nereida insisted.

"Against ten burly men who I seemed to have pissed off," Benjamin replied quickly. "For some reason, they seemed to believe that I had insulted their mother."

"Hmm. Well, then, you;ll have to go Merge soon, and regain your arm," Nereida replied. "I might as well Merge, too... though I was hoping to keep away from that bumbling bimbo a little longer."

Benjamin thought quickly. She expected him to know what a Merge was- he was guessing some kind of interaction with Light and Shadow, where they became one. But he wasn't on Nereida's ship. "I heard that the Player had managed to infiltrate your ranks," he replied casually. "Ah, well. Must have been a rumor." He brushed imaginary dust off his armor.

"Infiltrated us?" Nereida replied, incredulously. "Ha! We'd know."

"Would you?" Benjamin questioned. "Really? How do you know?"

"Because we could tell."

"How?"

"By kissing them," Nereida replied. "I'd have thought that was obvious, to one as clever as you," she added, throwing his words earlier back at him. Benjamin would have to watch this Nereida. She took offense at the slightest insult and then pounced. Benjamin guessed that something must happen during a kiss- he could only hope it wasn't chemical. Or... could it really just be the kiss itself that mattered? If Nereida kissed him, he would be astonished. He might even kiss her back. But if he kissed this Nereida... what would she do? He stared intently at her. She wouldn't care, he decided. Maybe that was it.

"Of course," he replied. "However..."

"Oh," Nereida replied. "I kissed him myself. NOBODY'S acting skills are that good."