The Voyage

Chapter 19

Scarlet woke up wrapped in Lux's arms. They fell asleep wrapped around each other as she cried herself to sleep. No more tears, she declared to herself. She had to stay strong for herself and for her crew. "Good morning," Lux told her, voice husky with sleep. She smiled softly, "Good morning." They got up and Lux grabbed his hat from the table by her bed. He gave her a quick kiss before leaving so she could get changed. 

"So that's where you've been all night," Brian said with a smirk on the deck. Lux chuckled and shook his head as he went below deck. He went over to his chest to change his clothes before going on to the deck to join the others for breakfast. He was sitting beside Scarlet when her distress signal began to ring. She looked at it, and her heart sank. "It's Romeo," she said as she hit the button to pull up the map to see who was closest. Tiger was the closest to him, and he seemed to be making his way to help Romeo. Everyone sat and looked at the map. It seemed her other brothers were sitting, waiting as well. "Think we should meet up with the rest of your brothers," Lux asked her. "There's strength in numbers," Dio added in. Suddenly Tiger's began to glow. Scarlet was running, and leaping into the air. She changed to her speed wings and shot like a dart, fading from their sight in the blink of an eye. 

Stephen watched the distress, seeing Scarlet's beacon moving faster than any ship. He gave his navigator the coordinates where she had sat for a while, figuring her crew will still be there. They weren't far from him, about two hours away. "Grouping up with your siblings," his first mate, Rico, asked him. He nodded, "We have a better chance at facing the marines if we're together." He noticed his brothers lights have started sailing in the same direction. Damn the marines to hell, Stephen thought. 

Scarlet got to the marine ships and saw Romeo and Tiger facing off against two vice admirals. Their ships were in bad conditions from canon fire. Scarlet drew her swords as she changed her wings to steel. A single slash had a wave of power, taking out a single marine ship. The blast had the vice admirals and the brothers looking in the direction it came from. Romeo and Tiger eyed her swords. They called their men, telling them to retreat. Scarlet flew close to the water, cutting a row of ships in half at cannon level, hitting the barrels of gunpowder, causing massive explosions. Romeo and Tiger ran from the vice admirals, leaping to the safety of their ships. Scarlet then sliced the ship they just evacuated. 

"Can your ships still sail," she asked her brothers. "Depends where we're going," Romeo told her. "My ship won't make it far due to the damage." "We're all good here," Tiger's shipwright called out. Tiger nodded, "Board our ship Romeo." Romeo nodded and his crew grabbed what they could. Tiger looked at the map of beacons, "It seems our other brothers are heading to meet up." "That's where my crew is waiting for me to return," Scarlet said as she looked at the map. "It'll take us a day or two to catch up," Tiger said. "The waters will be filled with marines in this area. We got to get you moving faster," Scarlet said. She then made a really large set of wings that would allow her to create the wind her brothers needed to speed up their travel. 

The men grabbed what they could to hang on and she began to flap, launching their ship quickly through the water. Romeo kept an eye on his sister with a spy glass until they were too far to see her. She then used her speed set of wings to catch up, before changing them, to continue pushing her brothers quickly along. She didn't want to risk them getting caught by marines once more. When she saw Cliff, Stephen, Paxton's ships were waiting with her crew she went back to her ship. She landed and Lux pulled her to him. He kissed her deeply. Her brothers refrained from pulling their pistols out and shooting him. "A little warning next time before you fly off like that," Lux snapped at her when he pulled away. He then sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose. "You're alive, and that's what matters. Now we need to figure out a plan of action." 

Scarlet flew her brothers to her ship. Lux showed them a map where there was a circle spot in the middle of water, "This is an island we had lived on for two months. It's not on any maps, so I doubt the marines know about it." "Staying in the water is going to get us all captured," Paxton said while running his hands through his hair. "Staying together though can get us all captured at once," Cliff stated. "The marines will figure out we gathered together and will gather a fleet large enough to take us all on. They'll throw all of their heavy hitters at us," Stephen said in agreement. "They're going to hit the Shadow Pirates with everything they've got," Romeo told his brothers. "Scarlet just took out their entire fleet in only a couple of slashes. I know not every marine died on those ships and was able to relay the information." 

Paxton, Cliff, and Stephen eyed the swords that hung on her hips. "I wish I had seen it," Brian said. "I bet it was fucking awesome." Her brothers glared at him. "It's made her a target," Tiger told him. "I already was a target," she reminded them. "We're all targets." Romeo nodded, "Yes, but now you will become a priority. They're wanting to gather pirates with special swords first because they'll be the hardest to go against. It's why they went after Slicer first." "We need to find out how many have been captured so far," Lux said. He then looked at Scarlet, "Think you can fly to the closest island to get a paper?" "Are you fucking insane," Stephen asked Lux with a glare. 

She ignored him, "Let me get changed to something less obvious." She went to her room and changed into a pair of capris pants, a pair of sandals, and a tank top that allowed her to use her wings. She left her hat on her bed and carried her swords out on to the deck. Lux gave her a kiss as she handed them to him. "Be careful," He said to her. She nodded, "You do the same." She then took off at the speed of sound. 

Lux looked at her brothers then. None of them seemed happy about him and their sister. "You're going to get her killed," Romeo said to him. "You need to stop underestimating her," Lux told them. "She is very capable of taking care of herself. She spent the last two months training, wanting to make herself even stronger. She is chasing her dream, I'm simply supporting her." Paxton scoffed, "Having sex with her isn't all that supportive." "Trust me, I want too, but I am not having our first time together with an audience," Lux told them, while pointing his thumb over at his crew. "The ship has thin walls." "Leave him be," Tiger told them. They shot their glares at him. "It's because of him, she has become so strong. We spent our whole lives knocking her down, wanting her to stay home where it's safe. He gave her the chance to grow into the woman that she is becoming." Tiger then looked at Lux, "You break her heart though, and we'll come for you." "If we don't kill him first," Dio said from the barrel he was sitting on. 

"If she doesn't kill him first," Brian threw in while Pince and Lance nodded in agreement. "I'm not going to break her heart," Lux told them. 

They stopped talking when Scarlet came back with the paper. She looked at Lux, "I'm so sorry Lux." It was whispered as she showed the front page. A photo of his father, busted up and in shackles was on the paper. Lux took it and read it over silently. "They captured him two days ago," he said softly. He turned to the next page and saw there were a list of the pirate crews that were already in custody. "Most crews have already been captured. Black Smoke has supposedly left Tenshi, no one on the island knowing how he left. The rest of the Black Smoke crew that had been retired has also come out of retirement it seems. After Slicer was captured, it seems they jumped into action to ensure their homes weren't attacked. They believe the Black Smoke crew sails once more, possibly meeting up with the Sinister Six. They say the seven crews gathered maybe enough to bring the marines plans to a screeching halt." 

"Dad won't be able to get to the Forbidden Lands," Tiger said. "There are way too many marines protecting the entrances." They all agreed. "It's possible he's going to a island that isn't being lived on to hide," I told them. "If anyone knows of any islands that aren't on a map it'd be dad." 

They all agreed. "We'll just have to wait and see," Cliff said while running a hand through his hair. "So what do you say we do now," Paxton asked them. "It's too risky to sit in place on an island," Stephen told them. "I need to have a new ship built, cause as it stands, my crew and I are stuck with Tiger," Romeo said with a sigh. 

As they continued to talk, it came down to Romeo, Tiger, and Scarlet were going to the island while the others were setting out on their own, but they wouldn't be far. No matter their choices, Scarlet had a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach. Once everyone was on their ships Lux went below deck as Dio set sail. Lux sat in his hammock, head in his hands. Scarlet went down to check on him. "My father's crew shouldn't have been so easily captured," Lux said without looking at her. "They probably weren't taken easily," She told him. "I imagine they put up one hell of a fight, but I can also see the Marines out numbering and out gunning them." He sighed as he looked up, "I can too." Scarlet rested a hand on his shoulder, "It's gonna be okay." Although she said it, and he nodded, neither of them believed it. It was all a waiting game. Just how much longer till they were caught, Lux asked himself.