Sea of Dreams: Chapter 7

The next chapter of Semblance of Control should be out tomorrow night featuring Neo Politan and Romana Torchwick!

~~~

The group of Marines split up as they rushed toward us, dividing into two groups as they apparently deemed us equal threats to deal with.

That worked just fine with me as not having an ally by my side would give me much more room to work with. So as Rachel sped off to meet her opponents, I stayed rooted where I was, reeling my kanabo back as the Marines got closer and closer, before finally letting it fly.

That single swing of my weapon sent three of them flying, unconscious before they hit the ground. The others managed to dodge by virtue of being just out of my reach, and they hesitated for a split second before rushing in all at once.

Despite my strength, I quickly found that the kanabo was actually pretty unwieldy. Every swing left me straying a bit too far in either direction as I was forced to move my body with the heavy piece of metal, and I nearly took some good blows before being able to bring it up to defend.

I made it work though, and was quickly reducing my enemies numbers one at a time, breaking bones and bruising ribs with each swing of my massive weapon.

Perhaps trying to stop me, one of them grabbed me from behind, wrapping his arms underneath my armpits to put me in a headlock. With my superior strength, I broke out of it easily and I whirled around to the man and grabbed him by the front of his uniform.

He shouted in horror as I lifted him off of his feet with one arm before throwing him into another Marine with one mighty toss, sending them both to the ground in a tangle of groaning limbs.

As I continued reducing their numbers, I glanced over towards Rachel to see how she was faring.

Just as well as me, if not better apparently. Despite only wielding a sword and a gun, Rachel had defeated just as many Marines as I had. She danced around their strikes, laughing in delight as parried sword swings and thrusts, before striking out with her own weapon in a bright flash of silver, sending a Marine to the ground with a fresh scar on his chest. The fifth by my reckoning.

My heart sank as one of them managed to get behind her, raising his sword to cut her down as she locked blades with a Marine at her front.

I opened my mouth to shout a warning but it turns out I didn't need to. As the Marine went to swing his weapon down, Rachel stepped to the side, breaking the bladelock and dodging the attack without even looking at it.

She turned, a hint of surprise in her eyes as she brought her pistol to bear and shot the attacking Marine in his shoulder, sending him to the floor clutching the wound in agony.

She pivoted on her heel and picked off the Marine she had been locking blades with as he stared at his fallen comrade, cutting a slash across his chest making him succumb to the same fate, before moving on to the next, never hesitating for even a moment.

As impressed as I was, I didn't let my Captain's battle prowess distract me from my own battle. There were still three more Marines trying to take me down and I didn't want to catch a stray sword strike.

Even as I fought though, I kept my mind on what I just saw, taking note of how Rachel had seemingly only given non-lethal wounds to her opponents in this battle. Oh sure, she definitely maimed some of them and didn't have any conniptions using that pistol of hers, but none of them were dead.

That made me feel a bit more secure in my decision to join the woman's crew.

Even when I was preparing for my journey, I knew I wouldn't have any issues with my prospective captain or crewmates killing people, but I personally would rather not do so unless I had to. It was good to see that wouldn't be an issue on this crew.

The last Marine I was fighting fell to the ground with a groan, glitching his shattered arm from where my kanabo had slammed into him. At the same time, Rachel finished off her last opponent with a shot to the knee, sending him sprawling.

The woman blew out the smoke billowing from the top of her pistol, before giving it a kiss and holstering it at her side once more as I walked up to her.

“Welp, I think that was the last of them.” I commented as I stopped by her side, “That didn't take too long. You're damn good with that pistol you've got.”

“I'd be even better if I had my sword!” She turned and grinned at me, “This cutlass is alright, but I want Yakeru back!”

“Oooh, a named blade? Fancy.” I joked.

Rachel laughed and went to respond, but was interrupted by the sound of a sword being unsheathed. We turned to find another Marine, either a straggler or just one who arrived late to the part.

The man stood between us and the door, sword held in front of him like a crucifix warding off demons. He had a white-knuckle grip on the thing, and I could hear the forced calm in his voice as he spoke.

“I'm not letting you through, pirates.” He said with conviction, “Your journey ends here”

Rachel and I looked at each other surprised by the man's sheet bravery or perhaps stupidity. There was no doubt in my mind that he had seen what we had just done judging by the fear in his eyes but still he stood in our way.

Impressive, but still stupid.

“So, Captain.” I said casually as I rested my kanabo on my shoulder, purposefully ignoring the slightly shaking Marine in front of the door, “Did you keep count of yours? Cause I did and I'm pretty sure I beat you.”

Rachel immediately understood my plan and the woman grinned widely, “Heh, I got six of em. Beat that!”

I winced, “Ooh, that sucks…. Because I got eight! That means I win! Pay up!”

“What!? We didn't agree on betting anything!” Rachel made an outraged face, “What would we even bet anyway? I have no money!”

I cursed, surreptitiously glancing towards the guard who was looking a lot less sure about his decision, “Damn, neither do I. Oh well, I guess I can let you off this time, but don't get used to it. I'm serious when it comes to bets.”

“You're the spitting image of magnanimity.” Rachel said dryly.

I looked back towards the man, finding him not as sure of his decision as before.

Still, it seemed he wasn't willing to move. I sighed, placing my kanabo head first on the ground and resting my hand on top of it, “Listen, I get you're trying to stick to your guns here, really do your duty as an upstanding Marine to keep us out of this base and I respect that, I do, but what do you think you can do in your own?”

The man's face shifted but he stayed where he was, “If I can buy even a moment of time for reinforcements to arrive, I will have done my duty.” He said as if he was trying to convince himself of the fact.

I shared a glance with Rachel, before turning back to him, “All you're going to accomplish here is getting yourself hurt. Sure, you might delay us for a second or two, but is it really worth it for a stint in the hospital?”

I was getting through to him, I could tell. Just one more push and I would have him.

“Look, we just want to get our things.” I offered, “We haven't killed any of your friends nor do we have any plans to. Right Rachel?”

The woman nodded, “I've never ever killed anyone before! I'm not gonna do it now just because you guys were defending your base. I just want my sword and my jewelry!”

“See! We aren't gonna kill anyone, so why not just let us through and save yourself the trouble?”

He hesitated, “I-If I do that, the Captain will be severely disappointed in me.”

I sighed, “If your captain is any sort of captain worth following, he'd understand you not wanting to risk your life for a fight you can't win, wouldn't he?”

The words struck a chord in the man and he hesitated, conflict plain on his face, before he slowly sheathed his sword and stepped to the side, allowing us entry.

“Awesome!” Rachel cheered as she sheathed her sword and rushed past the man, “Come on Ira, I'm pretty sure I know where we're going!”

As I followed after my captain, I patted the despondent man on the shoulder as I passed him, “You guys should really form a Union. They get all sorts of benefits and you're less likely to die to actual bloodthirsty pirates. Just something to think about.”

With my piece said, I ran after Rachel, leaving him staring after me with wide eyes.

“A… Union?” He muttered, staring at our retreating backs in stark confusion.

~~~

Two more groups of Marines had tried to stop us as we ran through the base, doubtlessly furious that pirates had found their way inside, but we had dealt with them even easier than we had the first and continued on towards our destination.

Huh, in the past half hour I'd battled and beaten more men than I had ever fought in my old world, or this one for that matter, and I had done it without breaking a sweat.

Did these people even train? I mean really.

“So how much longer till we reach this place? The riot outside isn't as loud as it was earlier so I'm guessing it's about over with. We might not have long till more show up.” I said as Rachel and I ran through the halls of the base.

“It should be just up ahead!” She said as we took a sharp turn into a corridor much narrower than the others, “There! At the end of the hallway! That's it!”

I turned my eyes forward and was met with a door several meters down the hall with a large plaque above it that read, ‘Processing Office’.

“Come on! We've nearly got what we came for!” Rachel picked up the pace, racing towards the door and I followed close behind.

The door was locked because of course it was, but with a quick application of overwhelming force I managed to knock the thing off of its hinges and get us inside.

The room was big and open, with a variety of cabinets and drawers against the walls and a large desk in the center of the room. My eyes locked on to the desk, a grin splitting my face as I was met with the map that had been taken from me sitting beside a medium sized leather pouch.

“Sweet, it's still here.” I said as I strode forward and grabbed it, “I half expected Hill to have it on him or something.”

“Ooh, what's that?” Rachel asked as she came up behind me. Her eyes widened as I turned to show her, “A map? Is that seastone?”

I nodded, running my fingers along its slightly coarse surface, “Yep, though I'm not sure what it's a map to exactly. All I know is my grandfather left it to my mom so he definitely has something to do with it.”

“Who's your grandfather? Someone important?”

I grinned as I stowed the map away in my coat, “I guess you could say that. He's the reason we had an Admiral running around the East Blue some years back.”

Her eyes widened, “Your grandfather was part of Raphael D. Vincent's crew!?”

I laughed, shaking my head as I went to take a look inside of the leather pouch on the des, finding a ton of jewelry inside, “Part of the crew? Nah, he was the captain.”

The woman made a keening noise in the back of her throat and I looked over to find her staring at me with something akin to awe. I raised an eyebrow as the woman began practically vibrating with excitement, “What?”

That only increased the tremors, “What do you mean what? Your grandfather was the greatest pirate the East Blue has ever seen, that's what!”

II stowed the pouch on my coat. That was good money right there, “I never met the man. He died before I had the chance.”

That didn't calm her down at all, “That doesn't mean anything! You're still related to him, a direct descendant, a living legacy!”

I just shrugged.

She went to say something else, apparently more than a little put off by my nonchalance but she suddenly took a deep breath, “Alright, calm down Rachel, you can educate the heathen later. For now, let's get what we came for and get out before any more Marines show up.”

I nodded, a bit confused by her outburst, “Alright, you do whatever you have to do and I'll find our stuff. Hopefully they've kept it all in the same place.”

Rachel moved around me to begin digging through the desk while I searched for our things. It didn't take long, my axe was way too big to not spot it almost immediately. It was hanging by its leather holster on what looked like a coat rack, dangling mere inches above a large metal chest.

As Rachel moved on from the desk and began digging through drawers and filing cabinets, I grabbed my weapon’s holster and strapped it across my chest, attaching the axe to its rightful place on my back once more.

I rolled my shoulders, sighing at the familiar weight of my preferred weapon, before turning my eyes down to the chest just below it, wondering what could be inside.

I opened it up with a quick motion and was met with a ton of goodies that must have been confiscated from the other prisoners in the base. Guns, swords, hell there was even a mace in there. Guess everyone had their preferences.

Digging through the box, I frowned as I couldn't find what I was looking for, “Hey, Rachel!” I called out to the woman, “I can't find your stuff in here!”

She looked over at me from where she was digging through a stack of papers. Around her several drawers had been slung to the ground, spilling their contents all over the place as she looked for… whatever she was looking for, “Try in that one!” She said, pointing to my left.

I turned and was met with… huh. It was a smaller chest that was like in every aspect to the one I had just been searching through, except for one thing. It had Rachel's bounty poster taped to the top of it.

“Oh.” I said, feeling pretty stupid, “That would make sense, wouldn't it? Guess they have separate chests for high value prisoners.” I muttered as I bent down to open it.

Inside were three things, a rectangular object wrapped in white cloth, a sack the same size as the one I had lifted from the desk moment's ago, and last but not least, Rachel's sword.

Said sword was just as opulent as her pistol was, with a gilded hilt and knuckle guard and black sheath that looked like it was inlaid with gold. I hadn't gotten a good look at it earlier, but it was apparent that it was just as expensive as practically everything else on her person.

Curiosity overcoming me, I unsheathed it just a tad, taking in the odd metal that made up the blade. It was speckled and oddly poros, but even I could tell that it was just as sturdy as my axe, which made me wonder exactly why it had been built like that.

“Ah HA! Found it!” I looked over at the shout of triumph to find Rachel holding aloft a folder that was practically full to bursting with papers.

I looked at it curiously as I made my way over, bringing her things along with me. There was no writing on the folder and the contents inside were hidden from view, but it must have been important if it was the entire reason Rachel had wanted to be sent here in the first place. “So what is it? Trade routes or something?”

Rachel made a so-so motion with her hand “Eh sort of. It would take too long to explain here and we've got to go. Here, I don't have any pockets so you hold onto it for now.” She said, thrusting the folder towards me.

I shrugged, “Alright, I guess. Here's your sword, by the way.” I said, trading the blade for the folder, “Oh and uh, these too.” I held out the pouch and clothed box.

She took them from me hefting the pouch slightly and grinning at the jingle inside, “My jewelry! Great, I was worried they would just steal it all!”

She tied the pouch to her belt along with her sword and moved on to the box. I watched curiously as she untied the cloth from around it, dropping it on the floor and revealing what it

It was a metal box with a screw like cork on one end. It was covered in fine engraving that I couldn't make out from a distance. Rachel unscrewed the cork and held it up to her nose, inhaling softly, before pulling back with a grin, “Still good! Perfect!”

I raised an eyebrow, “What is it? Booze?”

She shook her head, smiling deviously, “Oil. Really good oil too. This stuff is worth its weight in gold. Literally, in some places.”

“Oil? What do you need oil for?”

“You'll see!” She all but sang, clipping the box to her belt and leaving me even more curious that before.

The familiar boom of a cannon interrupted us, and we looked towards the nearby window as an even more familiar laugh followed soon after it.

Rachel and I looked towards each other before racing towards the window and peerimg outside. We were met with the sight of Nera and Brogy, still keeping a vigil on the entrance that was created in the base.

They were mopping up what looked to be a large group of Marines, with Nero using her throwing knives to keep them at a distance while Brogy's cannon dealt with any that were grouped too closely together.

The riot had seemingly died down. Dozens upon dozens of bodies lay strewn all over the area, some dead some not and while a few were still standing, they were looking less enthused to be there than they had previously.

Rachel leaned out of the window, “HEY, BROGY! NERA!” The woman called down below, “UP HERE!”

I watched as Nera perked up, looking around for the origin of her captain's voice before her eyes locked on to the window that the two of use were standing at.

She reached up and tapped Brogy on the shoulder as the giant went to reload his cannon. He looked down at her and she pointed towards the two of us, directing his attention upwards.

His eyes widened as he caught sight of us, “Is everything alright, you two!? Need help!?” He yelled.

“No! Everything's fine!” She answered, “We found what we came for! They were keeping it with the normal routes!”

Nera’s face twisted into a particularly nasty scowl and she spat, “Those motherfuckers!” She snarled, throwing one of her knives particularly hard into the throat of an incoming Marine. The force of the throw sent him off of his feet. He was dead before he hit the ground.

Brogy ignored the woman's outburst, “So what now? You wanna look to see if there's anything else?”

Rachel shook her head, “No, we're done here! Ira and I will get out on our own, you guys meet us back at the ship!”

Brogy nodded, hauling his cannon onto his shoulder, “Alright then, but be careful you two! Togi's back with reinforcements. You might run into him on your way out.”

“We'll be fine!” Rachel called back, “You two be safe and get the ship ready to go! We won't be long!”

She stuck her head back in the room turning towards me, “Alright, let's go. If they found out what I took we're in for a load of trouble.”

I nodded and together, we began to rush back through the base.

“So are we just gonna go out the same way we came in?” I asked as we made our way through the base, sidestepping the unconscious bodies of the Marines we had defeated, “Because if what Brogy said is true, it's probably full of Marines by now.”

Rachel made a thinking face, stopping in the middle of the hall and causing me to do the same, “Hmm, that's a good point… maybe we can-”

“Halt, Miscreants!”

…Okay who the fuck calls people Miscreant? That's just rude.

Rachel and I turned in tandem to look down the hall and my eyes widened as we were met with the sight of around a dozen Marines marching towards us slowly but steadily. At the head of the pack was the same man who had captured Rachel, thick mustache curling with his heavy frown as he led his men.

Speaking of frowns, I turned to find Rachel's grin had disappeared for the first time since I had met her.

“Oh shit, it's Togi.” She cursed as she brought a hand to her sword, “I didn't think he'd get up here so fast.”

“I'm guessing we don't want to fight him?” I asked rhetorically and I hefted my kanabo.

“No, that'd probably be a bad idea.” She shook her head, “This hallway is too narrow for you to swing that club or your axe and if I light my sword on fire I’d probably send you up as well. We need to get out of here.”

I stared at her slightly at her statement. Light her sword on fire? That's what the oil was for?

I shook my head, that wasn't important now. As much as I kind of wanted to test myself against a Marine Captain, Rachel was right that there just wasn't enough room to swing either of my weapons in this hallway. I'd be practically useless against that many Marines with just my fists.

Looks like it was time to peace the fuck out.

Unfortunately, there weren't currently any avenues of escape available to us. Going back the way we had come would just lead to another dead end in the office we had come from and there weren't any other rooms near us. We were trapped.

I thought hard for a moment as Rachel drew her sword and pistol, staring down the approaching Marines with mounting anxiety. By chance, I turned my eyes towards the wall, taking in the rough brickwork, and an idea struck me like a lightning bolt.

If there wasn't an exit available to us, we could always just make one.

I tightened my grip on my weapon, “I might have an idea. It's probably a bad one, but it is an idea.”

“I'm all ears.” Rachel said, keeping her eyes on the approaching Marines.

“It's more of a physical thing.”

With a quick check of my mental map of the base and its approximate location on the island, I nodded decisively, before turning to the wall on my left and swinging my kanabo at it as hard as I possibly could.

The brickwork gave way like it was made of legos, crumbling outwards with an extremely loud crash that startled both the Marines and Rachel beside me. I could hear screams as the debris rained down onto whoever happened to be below the hole.

Taking advantage of their shock, I turned and hurled the now dented weapon in their direction, hoping to knock a few of them out and stall them for another moment.

Captain Togi was extremely quick on the draw. The moment that the club had left my hands, the man was already in motion, drawing the thin blade at his side and swiping it downwards at blinding speeds.

It cut the kanabo clean in two, sending either side of the ruined weapon around his body and into the crowd of Marines behind him. His eyes narrowed at the sound of shouts of pain as the weapon bowled over several of his men. I expected him to charge towards me with a shout of rage, but instead of rising towards me he surprised me by actually turning around to help his fellow Marines.

Seemed that this one was more of a Smoker than a Morgan. That was good because that made the perfect opportunity for Rachel and I

I grabbed the woman by the arm and hauled her towards me, wrapping one arm around her as I pulled her close. I grinned down at her as she looked up at me in shock, “You wouldn't happen to be scared of heights by any chance?”

Rachel immediately got my meaning, looking towards the hole in the wall before turning back to me with a growing smile, “Oh, you're fun!” She laughed before wrapping her arms around me tightly, “Let's do it! Just try not to kill us both!”

“Please, my ideas aren't that bad!” I answered back as I moved us closer to the opening, peering out of it.

Down below was the bustling main street of Kara Town. Several civilians were staring up at us in shock, pointing and gasping in terror or excitement as they realized what was about to happen.

I took a moment to ready myself, tightening my hold on Rachel as I readied myself, double-checking my aim while behind us the Marines gathered themselves once more and ran towards us angrily.

I looked down at Rachel, “Ready?” She nodded, “Good, cause here we go!”

And then, just as the first of the Marines were about to reach us, I jumped. Rachel's scream of excitement rang in my ears as the wind rushed past my face, and I couldn't stop the grin of excitement that formed as we dropped dozens of feet to the street below.

I was sure we'd be fine, so long as my aim was on target and we landed in that vendor's food cart.

Cabbages were soft, right?