Chapter 8: Knock Down and Drag Out

The Lapland Region

"Chad", Dahlia said bewildered, slowly pushing his body away from hers. "I'm not-"

"I know, I'm a fool." Chad panted, releasing Dahlia from his grip. He shook his head several times, not knowing what to do or say, worried sick that he might have destroyed this new and exciting friendship.

Dahlia shifted her weight out of unease, her body frozen… alarmed. She too didn't want to ruin a perfectly fine friendship. Where had it gone wrong? Where had she accidentally given him a hint that there was more in it than that?

He grabbed her cold hands and lifted them up, like a barrier between the two of them. "Forgive me." Was all he said. His eyes were the ones that spoke a thousand words - filled with genuine regret. She didn't answer, though. The silence was eating him on the inside, nibbling on his heart – feeding itself on his dismay. "I'm not in love with you" he simpered.

Her eyes narrowed, "you're not?" He shook his head, his slight simper fading.

"Ugh" she exclaimed, pulling her hands out his. The sudden cold made her shiver. "Y- You're being awfully confusing." After noticing the shiver, he tried to warm her hands once more but she refused.

Chad sighed, "there's someone I like. A lot. I have been trying to tell her for years now. She told me she was worried about me being a pilot so I stopped being one. She's a vegetarian so I stopped eating meat. She said she hates blue so I stopped wearing my favourite sweater."

"Reva."

He nodded and closed his eyes for a second. "We grew up together. For years I saw her fall in love with the wrong ones. Some were nice but they weren't me. I wanted to be happy but at the same time I wanted it to be with me. And the most awful part is that when she did show interest in me, I was too much of a coward to pursue. Too busy sucking up to Cortes and too busy realizing that I deserve a life too."

Dahlia was quiet as she listened to Chad's ranting. Not sure if she should defend her captain's requests regarding being fully focused on being a pirate or –

"Don't you get it?" Chad smiled, his question interrupting her inner battle.

She cleared her throat, "get what?"

"After years I realized that Cortes' demand doesn't mean that you can't be happy. All he wants is for you to be focused and ready for battle, it doesn't mean that you can't have a life of your own."

Dahlia's eyebrows furrowed.

"Live your own life."

"I'm living my own life" she opted.

"Look at Wayan."

"If I have to look at Wayan then I'm not really living my-"

"You don't get it, Dahlia!"

She shushed him and quickly placed her hand on his mouth. "There are people outside. May I remind you that an angry mob wants us dead?"

He shook of her hand and whispered: "Listen, you can live your own life. I know you like him; you haven't shut up about him ever since we started talking. Your eyes light up when someone mentions his name."

"What, who? What are you talking about?"

"Mahad."

"No" she gasped, furiously shaking her head. "You're being insane; I don't like him."

"But you do."

"Except that I don't. Chad, I'm perfectly fine on my own. Stop trying to make decisions for me, I thought you were my friend."

"I am."

"You have a rather funny way of showing it, hypocrite."

"Hypocrite?" he asked surprised.

"You just kissed me" she exclaimed, fuming at his ignorance. "And then you give me a speech about being with the one you love!"

"They're over here!" a voice in the distance shouted. Dahlia and Chad glanced at each other in panic.

Marina shipyard, Puerto Angel

It had been four hours since she contacted him. Apparently, 'I'll be here any minute' meant 'see you in several hours'. Mahad sighed and kicked a small stone, bored from watching elderly men play with their small ships. Marina shipyard – a docking-like place where you can park a small ship that doesn't have the purpose of combat. With other words, according to Mahad: absolutely useless ships that had no purpose of existing other than getting destroyed.

"Missed me?" a familiar voice asked. He looked up to find Haneko standing right in front of him; arms crossed and her face in a big grin.

"Haneko!" he threw his hands around her and gave her a tight hug. "You have no idea; it's been too long."

She snickered, "it's only been a few weeks, Mahad. Nothing compared with the last time."

"Yeah, I know. But it's still too long. Hey, didn't Shoomday tag along?"

"No", she shook her head.

"Doesn't he want to see me? I heard him on the radio."

"No, I'm alone. Shoomday isn't and wasn't with me."

"But I'm pretty sure that I –"

"I'm alone, Mahad." Haneko glared at him.

"Alright… why did you want to see me?"

"Aren't I allowed to want to – I mean, I just wanted to see you. Is that so odd?"

Mahad shook his head, "'suppose not" he muttered. All though he was excited to see her again, a part of him also felt like the whole situation was suspicious. He didn't want to accuse Iziel or Haneko of anything, but the pirate leaders had really gotten into his head. Was she trust worthy? Were her intentions pure?

"What are you thinking about?" she eyed him.

He didn't answer her, just shook the question off as if she never asked it in the first place,

"Well, I, for one, am very excited to see you again! I can't wait to hear all your adventures since you left us!" She grabbed his arm and dragged him along.

Mahad struggled to keep up, occasionally risking stumbling over the poorly lain path. "I don't know where to start, I told you a lot already" he wheezed.

"I can't believe that Marcus Farrell is your father. How exciting!"

"I guess, but I already told you –"

"And it must be fantastic for your mother to be back in her hometown again. Well, technically not her hometown since she used to be a member of the Sphere but still. That's in the past, I know. But it must be a bit odd for you that your father is one of Skyland's most wanted fugitives – all be it a dead fugitive – and your mother a former Sphere brigadier. It must cause some tension in your home!"

"Wait a minute", Mahad came to an abrupt halt, the sudden tug nearly causing Haneko to fall on the ground. "Why are you saying this?"

"Hmm? What do you mean? You know me Mahad, I've always been a bit straight-forward." Haneko gave him a panicked look, her mouth smiled but her eyes didn't join the fun.

"You sound… You sound just like Iziel!" Mahad pulled his hand away with force, refusing to touch her for a second longer.

"Mahad, don't be silly."

"Are you wearing a wire? Is she listening right now? Iziel!" He grabbed Haneko and shook her, frantically looking for any signs of a wire or anything that could lead him back to Iziel. "Iziel? Are you listening? I miss you, I don't think you did it."

"Mahad!" Haneko cried out.

"Iziel!"

"Mahad, stop being so ridiculous!" Haneko gave him a hard push. "I just came to see my friend. I'm tired, I haven't heard from you in a while. I'm sorry if I offended you… I'm just a bit nervous."

"Nervous?"

"Yes, I have a question…" Haneko became a bit uneasy, biting her lip. Stalling time. "Is there still place here? I know it's sudden but I have nowhere to go… I lost my home, my family, I left the Tempête…"

"You left Iziel's crew?"

"Yes, I did."

"It's been off the radar for weeks? Where is it? Wait, come, let's go. Maybe this is how we can prove that Iziel is innocent. We'll just have to go to her and confront her!" Mahad tugged Haneko's hand but she didn't move an inch. "What are you waiting for? Let's go!"

"Mahad, Iziel isn't exactly innocent."

Mahad's eyes widened, "blasphemy!" he shouted.

"I can't fully blame her; I know I was a part of her team. I'm willing to face my punishment if I have to. I deserve it."

"Shut it! Are you even hearing what you're saying?"

"Mahad…"

"No."

The Lapland Region

"Our leader is thrilled to meet you. He's an old friend of the Vector and was a trusted advisor of Marcus Farrell. I guess you could compare maven Sardius to the Vector in some ways. What the Vector, at the time, meant to Mila was what maven Sardius meant to Farrell."

"What exactly is he a maven in? What's his expertize?" Dahlia asked as she followed maven Sardius' patron.

"Imperceptibility – He knows exactly how to avoid being seen by the Sphere while still being there. He helped Farrell at numerous occasions."

"Is that how Marcus Farrell disappeared thirteen years ago?"

The patron was silent for a minute, seemingly focussed at discreetly finding the way. "Is that how the Vector helped Mrs. Farrell disappear?"

"I'm sorry, Patron, I know nothing about Mila's disappearance."

"Then you and I are at one."

They continued the rest of the way in silence.

It wasn't long until they reached a beautiful snow covered town.

"This is the old town of Kiruna. It has become extremely hard to reach after planet Earth… collapsed."

"I can tell" Dahlia gulped.

The patron smiled and continued, "this didn't stop maven Sardius and his compatriots; the honourable Evander, the Vector and Sebastian of claiming it and reshaping it to their own visual needs."

"The Vector is from the same country as maven Sardius?" Dahlia asked.

"Yes, well, no. Not entirely. But the current way of how the blocks are shaped makes them from the same region. Their nationality is Greek."

"What makes Evander honourable?" Chad asked before continuing, "Sebastian is just… Sebastian?"

"Sadly, the honourable Evander died when an avalanche hit Kiruna. We're close up north, a sejin's powers are too strong here. He realized it too late. Oh, and do not worry, only us patrons are forced to call them by their full title. I know it's a mouth full." The patron smiled once more, remembering Evander fondly. "Sebastian is actually a part of the Sphere's elite."

"Wait, what?" Dahlia paused for a second out of shock.

"Not everyone from the Sphere is a bad person. Sebastian is different. He doesn't openly communicate with pirates – he doesn't believe the way you do. But he does believe that everyone deserves their own way of living. Albeit, in his mind, that the Sphere's way is better."

"Patron" the patron said to two peers when they reached a red brick building.

"Patron" the two of them repeated. The two fellow patrons wore the same Havelock blue outfit that their patron wore.

"Maven Sardius picked the Kiruna Church as his base. He's fascinated by old cultures. The building itself was built around 1910 and is still fully intact. Maven Sardius has several people maintaining it on a weekly basis."

"That must cost a lot." Despite the low temperature, Chad's voice still sounded the same; husky. As if the cold didn't bother him at all.

"On the contrary. We don't get paid, we get to live here for free. We work and get a peaceful life in return. We haven't joined a battle for fifteen years now." The Patron sighed, "don't discuss it behind these doors. Maven Sardius hates to look back at the battle."

"You lost?" Dahlia asked out of curiosity.

"No… Well, lives were lost. Farrell requested our help and naturally, maven Sardius responded. After what happened, he had to live with the guilt and it tore him apart."

"What happened?"

"I'm afraid that it's not my place to tell, Chad." The patron opened the doors, simultaneously ending the conversation.

"Dahlia, I haven't seen you in nearly sixteen years!" Maven Sardius shakenly got up and clapped his hands, dismissing the patrons that wanted to help him. "I don't need help, I'm perfectly fine." He made his way towards Dahlia who was silent out of confusion.

"You look just like your mother, such a shame." The maven put his finger under her chin and lifted her face until she looked into his eyes.

"Y- you did? I do?" She stuttered nervously. It was nothing like her to stutter but after so many years and having no pictures, she didn't have a clue as to what her mother looked like. All she could remember was spending time with her father.

"Unfortunately, yes. How is that old –"

"Maven!" A patron interrupted.

The maven smiled and waved it off before continuing, "I haven't heard from her in years."

"Dahlia's mother took her own life many years ago, maven Sardius" Chad answered the maven's previous question.

"It happens."

"Maven Sardius!" The same patron awkwardly exclaimed.

Again the maven smiled, "I hope you excuse me. I strongly disliked your mother. She once betrayed my fleet by sending their coordinates to the Sphere just out of pure jealousy. She was a pirate in every way and couldn't care less about my neutral fleet. Obsessed with picking a side. I don't see what your father saw in her. Brilliant man, great engineer; who most definitely deserved better."

"I miss him" Dahlia admitted.

"I do too, my child. Now, why are you in trouble?"

Farrell residence

"Please, Haneko. If you ever truly were my friend… if you ever truly cared." Mahad and Haneko were sitting in Mahad's room.

"Mahad, it's not that I don't care about you. I just owe it to all those innocent people to tell them what truly happened."

"But you don't know what happened – you're only guessing. You weren't there."

"I know, but I… I was part of her team. I heard things."

"You heard things but didn't actually experience them yourself. Why are you making this so hard?" Mahad fell back on his bed, his hands covering his face.

"Mahad…" Haneko made her way towards him and sat down. "Mahad" she repeated, grabbing his left hand and then stroked it to soothe him. "This used to work on you" she smiled.

Nearly hidden under his right hand but still slightly visible, she could see his lips curl up. "It still works" he whispered.

"Well good, now get up" Haneko snickered and helped him get up. "I guess you really love Iziel" she sighed.

"No, I don't know. I haven't heard from her for weeks. I feel awful."

"Mahad", Haneko slowly let her hand stroke his back. "I'm here for you, just like old times."

"She saw my potential; you know?" He looked into Haneko's eyes and sighed. "We connected on a whole new level. Everyone considered me as a kid, an immature brat that doesn't know when to stop. Even here, Cortes doesn't see what I'm capable of doing."

"But there's more to you" Haneko added.

"So much more, and then we spend nights talking about everything. Who my father was, what my mother might be hiding from me, why I sometimes feel like I have no one to connect to."

"And why you sometimes feel like everything goes wrong."

"Sometimes it did" he smiled. "But then…"

"I was there."

"Yes."

"This isn't about Iziel, is it?" Haneko looked away while saying it.

Mahad grabbed her chin and gently directed her face back to face his. "No" he whispered as he leaned in. "No, it isn't" he repeated as the space between them got smaller.

The lighthouse

The vector hummed as he checked Cheng's notes.

"Are they any good?" Cheng asked, his feet kicked the air nervously as he sat on the desk.

"Cheng, stop moving, you're making it rather hard to read."

"Okay" Cheng said glum as he hopped of the desk.

Lena made his way towards him and wrapped her arm around his shoulder, pinching it reassuringly. "Don't worry, I'm sure you did fine. Now let's give the Vector some time to check it" she winked at the youngster. Together they headed across the room.

"I hope I didn't disappoint him" Cheng whispered.

She shook her head, unwilling to believe that there was something that her young friend couldn't do. Cheng was a smart boy but he had so much to learn about patience and having some faith in himself.

He had calculated the movement between the blocks, for the first time in his life had been allowed to use the Vector's self-made equipment. Cheng was always allowed to use everything – The Vector didn't want to block his learning process and was well aware that his pupil was gifted. But he had been hesitant with the machines he built so many years ago. If something were to break, it couldn't be replaced.

The Vector grunted several times, firing up Cheng's nerves.

"Hmm. You made several mistakes there, Cheng."

"Where?" Cheng quickly made his way back towards the Vector's desk, Lena in his pursuit.

"Right there, look" the Vector pointed at several calculations. It all looked like gibberish to Lena, who had a hard time with math.

"Are you sure? I re-calculated it several times…"

"Are you doubting me?" The Vector smiled at Cheng's reaction.

Cheng's eyes widened, "no, of course not. I just thought… Never mind."

"You give up too easily, Cheng. Just hear the Vector out." Lena re-assured Cheng.

"You calculated the distance to Lagarto, correct?"

Cheng nodded to the Vector's question.

"Lagarto moves at nearly the same rate as Puerto Angel. You calculated the distance to something that moves the same way you do. The position doesn't – or nearly – change this way. You have to calculate the position of the block compared to the position of the sun, then calculate back towards how much the sun has moved. It's a difficult process but it works."

"Vector!" the captain's sudden voice startled the three. "Can you believe this?" he panted.

The Vector got up, "no, I can't because you just interrupted me. What did I tell you about barging into –" Cortes' firm look silenced the Vector. Now was not the time.

"I grounded all ships and Dahlia just took off with that deceiving little – Oh. Hi, Cheng, Lena. Didn't see you guys. Why don't you two go outside, to the tavern or something similar."

"No, they stay right here." The Vector insisted.

Cortes sighed, "it's that Chad. First he leaves head over heels and now he's dragging Dahlia along. For nearly a week she's been doing her duties half-arsed."

"She's been working fulltime; don't you think she deserves a break?"

"Barely doing your duties isn't similar to taking a break. If she wants some peace, she needs to request it like anyone else. Besides, she never asked for less work."

"Maybe she's in love" Lena snickered. Cortes gave her a stern look. "Or not" she quickly added.

Cortes sighed again. This is exactly why he didn't want any kids around. Well, this and because having kids around prevented him from saying what he really wanted to say. He had nothing good to say about Chad. Cortes was the captain of the ship, a ship Chad no longer worked for so he couldn't care less. Even though Chad worked hard on the block itself.

"This is Kiruna for Papa Alpha, do you read me?" The Vector's radio interrupted Cortes' thoughts.

The Vector pressed the call key, "Vector to Kiruna, reading you five, go ahead."

"This is Chad; Dahlia is right next to me. We're stuck in the Lapland region. People here seem to be very mad at us out of the sudden."

"Maybe they also discovered that he's going to leave their –" Cortes couldn't continue his sentence, the Vector's look silenced him.

"Martinez' crew found evidence that Iziel placed an engine bomb." The Vector notified the two pirates via the radio.

It was silent for a minute, making it quite clear that the two pirates were in shock. "How would the people here know?" Dahlia asked.

Cortes made his way towards the radio and pressed the key, "you can thank your friend for that, who was quick to publically jump in Iziel's defence."

"The Sphere found out because of Mahad?" Chad's voice sounded shocked.

"That's correct." Cortes responded, "Stand-by, Dax has several crew members in your area who will pick you up."

"Wilco." Chad responded.

"And give my greetings to my dear friend Sardius" the Vector added.

"Copy that, sir. Over and out." Chad ended the call.

"Well, at least now you know where they are" the Vector smiled but Cortes ignored his statement, leaving the lighthouse in a rush.

Authors note: Sorry for the delay! Had a writers block because of the review... Couldn't figure out where I went wrong and when I asked, the person just stopped replying :/ just gonna try not to read reviews from now on :) Also moved and will be moving again soon but I'll try to write! Much love and happy holidays in advance.