Chapter One

Sometimes we have to lose all there is to hold to realize that the only thing we need is the strength within our soul

 The Devils Parlor Alehouse and Brothel stood at the end of the long road that stretched away from the docks. The sign hung askew, having been broken in last nights brawl, and the windows had been painted over after Old Jiro decided that curtains were too much hassle to keep hanging.

   Inside was dim and musty, smelling of ale, smoke, and piss. Dirty glasses and opened bottles filled the shelf behind the bar. A crooked stairway ran along the back wall, leading to the bedrooms above. A young woman cleared away broken glass and set the tables back up from the fight the previous night. Several patrons sat at the bar, sipping at some new ‘cure-all’ Jiro had cooked up and talking about the girls they had left in some town, on some island, in some other time. 

   As she bent to clear away the scattered shards of glass from beneath the chair of an unconscious sailor, he opened his eyes and grabbed for her arm. 

“Come ‘ere, love, I got gold to spare. Ye know I can treat ye like a princess,” the old sailor slurred, his breath smelling of ale and vomit. 

“I have no desire to be a princess” she replied, breaking free of his grasp, “But I’d be happy to help you find the door, damned louse” She stood to meet his furious gaze. 

“I’ll have ye know, I’s a wanted man. I’s killed men fer less than that, ye little rat!” he bellowed.

   A smile began to form across her face, fire burning in her eyes. 

“I’d love to see you try!” She shouted, drawing a knife from her boot. 

   As the man swung his fist at the girls head, she vanished from his line of vision. He felt a sharp pain as blood began to trickle down his back.

“I didn’t kill you yet, louse, but I haven’t taken back my blade. So, you can walk your fat arse out the door, or I can call the under taker to carry it out” she whispered is his ear. 

   Panicked, he bolted away from her, crashing into a table and knocking over a couple of chairs.

“Gracy! How many times have I told ya, ‘ya can’t kill my customers?’  Yer gonna give me a bad reputation.” Jiro called, as the drunk scrambled out of the bar.

   “I’m not one of your dancing girls, Jiro. And I never will be. You know that. I’ll clean up after the party ends, and I’ll stay in the kitchen when the rogues arrive.” She said as she wiped the knife on her apron. ”And besides, your reputation is already shot, the way you talk to the customers. Not to mention, the girls up stairs!”

“Gracy, Gracy.” He sighed, wiping the sweat from his brow, “Ya wandered in here 10 years ago, half dead, and all crazy. If ya can’t stop trying to kill my customers, as much as I hate to do it, I’ll have to send ya packing” 

   Jiro was a fat old man with a glass eye and crooked nose. He never talked about his past, and didn’t want to hear about his customers’. He was a mystery, and had every intention of keeping it that way. What Gracy did know about him was that he loved money more than life itself, and that he was not afraid to shoot to kill, no matter who it was, should a costumer get too rowdy.  He slowly limped his way around the bar, looking as if he was defeated.

“And, Gracy, I know ya don’t want me to throw you out of here-“ 

“Please do. I know I’ve told you that if you ever paid me enough to leave this dump, I would…”

   “Ya have to let the past go, Gracy! There is nothing you can do that will change it, and beating up every half-baked sucker who walks in won’t bring back yer home town! I don’t know how ya got here, or even how ya survived the slaughter, but I am starting to think it was because yer daddy was the devil himself! I can’t run a business where the help keeps killing the customers.” Jiro shook his head, “There is a pirate crew docked a ways down, maybe ya can… bribe yer way on board. Just don’t kill them, and ya should be fine. Please, this time, Gracy? Don’t come back. Join that Marines, hunt a bounty, I don’t care!” 
He sat down on the stairs “I let you stay ‘cause I felt sorry for ya, but you are getting wilder and more unpredictable, and at this rate? I won’t have a building left. Every time I take a knife from ye, you come back with a bigger one, every time I take yer pistol, ya find a better one. What next? A saber? A cannon? Gracy, we can’t do this. Please, just go.” 

   “Maybe I will! And don’t try to pass it off as pity. You wouldn’t know the meaning of the word. You kept me for profit, but all I have been was a bad investment.” she snapped. 

   “I hate to do this, you’ve been almost like a daughter to me, but yer gonna end up crossing the line one day, and I want none of yer trouble here. Get yer things.” 
He reached into the cabinet hidden under the fifth step up, pulling out an envelope and tossing it to her.

“Have a year’s pay. Now, go before ya earn yerself a bounty amongst the locality.”

“Some way to treat an ‘almost daughter,’” she muttered, storming up the stairs, past the guest rooms and into the attic. 

   She let her hair fall down over her face, hiding the tears. Dark auburn waves hid emerald green eyes. She grabbed a bag hanging from the foot of her bunk as she looked around the dusty room she had called home for the past ten years. It was small and cramped. A single window faced the dock and cast a long line of light across the dirty wooden floor. She shoved the money into the side of the bag and lifted the mattress of the low bunk. Underneath, a pistol and an envelope lay on the slats, the only clues she had to finding a future. Perhaps her father as well. 

   She took one last look around: ribbons and perfume bottles lay on the small table; several old books were stacked beside the bed. That was the way it had gone, she got anything the girls didn’t like. She picked up one of the books and sighed. No need for the added weight. She flew back down the stairs, hoping the girls were still sleeping from last night’s festivities, and paused on the last step.

   Jiro was standing in the doorway, his face grim, a saber in his hands.
“Yer gonna need this” he growled as he held the saber towards her. “This was mine, many years ago, and it’ll serve ya well. I’d have given it to my son, if I’d have ever had one, but after meeting ya, I decided it wasn’t worth the risk to ever have a brat of my own.” 

   He stepped aside, and she stomped to the door, hiding her face behind a wall of auburn waves 

“You know,” he croaked, “you can come home when your heart has found its peace.” 

“This will never be my home,” she snapped, pushing the blade away and slamming the door behind her.

   She stopped to look at her reflection in the glass of the dark windows. Thick red waves fell to her hips, and, with the dirty apron and the ill-fitting blue dress, what captain is his right mind would take her, a scrawny, pale girl of 16? She didn’t even look her age, small and frail; the girls had teased her for her athletic build. What man would pay for that? And even if he would, she was not desperate enough to consider that.

   She walked down a ways to the pawn shop that set back between two large warehouses.
“Pravin, where you at? I need a favor,” she called, pushing the door open. 

   The room was cluttered with baubles and trinkets. A collection of guns was displayed in the window, and feathery hats were hung behind the counter, without order.

“What trouble are you in now, you damn brat?”  he growled. “Tell Jiro we got nothing to talk about, I won the bet fair and square. And you know I don’t want to see your face in here. Trouble follows you like a shark follows a drowning sailor”

“No, Pravin, this time I came on my own accord. I want to cut my hair. And while you’re at it, can I have some mens clothes? I can pay you...” She added quickly. 

“Well, if you’d said that from the start, we would have already been in business. I don’t dare hope that this means that we’ll finally be rid of you, does it?”

   She grinned, tucking a stray curl behind her ear. “It does, and, if ya help me, you can keep the locks. I’ll bet you fetch a good price on a wig like that.” 

“That does sound like a good business, lass. Well then, Miss Gracy, shall we begin?” he grinned, picking up a razor, “How short do you want it?”



   She stood in front of the mirror, looking into the face of a young boy, wild auburn curls bouncing around a mischievous face, loose shirt and breaches masked her slight curves. 

“If only I had a good tan or some freckling, then I would convince them” she sighed. “I don’t suppose you have some way to hide my breasts?”

“Get lost before I decide to charge you for the rags, and you got no breasts anyways; don’t see why you worry over something that ain’t there. Now git! I was gonna call it a trade for the hair, but you keep bugging me, I’ll charge you double” Pravin growled at her.

“If I thank you, will you accept it?” she asked. 

“You’re a stranger around here, runt. I don’t know any ratty little brats like the one standing here. Get lost!” he glowered.

   She ran out of the shop, not sure if she was happy to be free, or sad that no one seemed to recognize her. As she made her way down along the docks, ducking around crates and stepping over trunks, the air was clear and the smell of salt water filled the breeze. Excitement replaced the doubt as she looked for someone who could be a captain. Men dashed back and forth, carrying sacks and chests, stomping about, trying to look important, bellowing orders and yelling insults.

“You look lost.” The voice came from behind her.

“Not at all!” she snapped, spinning around. “Just looking for a captain that could keep up with me!”  

“Well, I’m looking for a crew that can keep up with me. Sounds like we are going along in the same way,. Mind telling me your name?”

   The voice belonged to a young man near her own age. Freckles dusted his cheeks, and dark hair fell wildly around his face. He stood a good head taller than her, thin and muscular. 

“You don’t look like a captain. You look like a runt, same as me” she mused. 

“And you talk like an arrogant twit” he laughed. 

   She felt her face growing red with anger as she tried to stare him down. He pushed his hat back, tucking his hair beneath it. His crooked grin and the amusement dancing in his stormy grey eyes only made her want to hit him more. 

“Turning a bit pink around the ears,” he teased. “You’d better go home before you die of embarrassment.” 

   He reached across and ruffled her hair; this was her chance. She grabbed his arm and pulled with all her strength, her knee making full contact with his chin. He staggered back a few steps, looking shocked. 

“I see what you mean by a captain that can keep up with you. If I was a pirate captain, I would have gutted you for that, you know?” 

“If you were a pirate captain, then I would have had to hit you twice” she retorted. 

“You have something against pirates?” he asked, the grin starting to curl across his face again, making her feel even more annoyed.

“None, I would actually prefer a drunken pirate to a sober Marine!”

“Just a bit specific, there, huh?” he said “Mind telling me, why the details?”

   “Marines are simply animals. They are only clean shaven pirates, with an official letter so they can steal and kill, without having to own up to it!” 

   Her face grew red with anger as the  memories of that day came began flooding her mind. Strong arms reached out and pulled her back into the present.

“Hey, hey, don’t do that. I like it better when you’re trying to kill me! I don’t know what happened, but it’s the past. If you are going to join up a crew, you have to look at the future, not the past. I like you. You have about the common sense of my kid brother, and you act like a loaded cannon. Think you can give me your name?”  

   He was holding her elbows, his face full of concern as he bent to look into her eyes.

“Gra- Gray! Name’s Gray. Got a problem with that?” 

“Nope, none. Though I think ‘Red’ would have fit you a bit better. Whats say we get something to eat, and then take you back home?” 

   His annoying grin was back, and he spun her around and marched back towards the town, steering her by the shoulders. 

“Now, to find some grub!” 

“No!” she yelled, spinning back around and pushing him away.

“What? You don’t like food?” He looked shocked.

“Yes! Wait, No! What?” she stammered.  “O’ course I like food. What is wrong with you? I can’t go home. I got none, and the old geezer I was staying with has thrown me out. He said I was too much trouble to have hanging around.”

“Why can’t you go home?” He asked, his grin fading, replaced by a stern expression. “A parent should forgive any transgression.” 

“My mum is dead. She ain’t there to forgive me. And my dad never even knew I was born. I don’t know anything else about him. Just what mum had said. I’m not even sure of his name…” She looked down.

“Ah... I see. That does complicate things for you, just a bit. Well, I guess you could come with me? At least let me get you something to eat, and we’ll make it up from there.” 

   He grabbed her hand; his mischievous grin was back “Ah, who I am kidding, this works great for me! What do you say we sail together? After a good meal, of course.” He started pulling her back towards the Devils Parlor.

“Wait!” she yelled, running to keep up, afraid he would actually drag her if she didn’t “There’s nowhere to eat in this town; we’ll have to go to the next town over”

   He stopped so fast she ran into him. “That’s the worst thing anyone has ever said to me, Are you wanting me to starve? Or maybe you’ve gone blind? Isn’t that a tavern over there? The one with the busted sign?”

“No, the food there is awful. I think they cook rats… And the owner is mad…” 

   She was running out of ideas to talk him out of it, and he had started walking again. Surly there was something she could say… “I am banned from ever going back, if they see me, they’ll toss us both out!” 
His laughter rang out, filling her with rage again. 

   “Well, this is something I gotta see! If we get tossed out, at least we’ll have had a bite first. Here,” he dropped his hat on top of her head. It slid down, almost to her nose “Now there won’t be an issue! It’s so big on you, I can’t even see your face!” 

He walked up to the door, Gracy following behind, hanging her head and out of excuses.

   The Devils Parlor was in full swing. As the sun had set, the girls had returned from wherever they had been sleeping; the sailors and pirates alike were well and drunk. Glasses smashed and shouts and giggles filled the crowded room. 

   “Wait!” She yelled, trying to catch up with her new companion as he pushed through the doors and across to the bar, “How am I traveling with you, if I don’t even know what to call you?” 

   “Guess that could be a bit of an issue,” he laughed. “Call me what you want, but if you have to know, I prefer you called me Ace.” 

   He sat down at the bar, grabbing the chair next to him and waving for her to sit down. 

   Jiro stood pouring drinks and cursing at the girls as they bounced around the room, topping off drinks and flirting with the other patrons. 
He stopped in front of Ace just long enough to demand “What do you want, brat,” and then wandered off, without waiting for an answer.

   “See,” Ace laughed, “He didn’t even notice you.”

   Jiro passed back by, slamming a couple of glasses down in front of them, and rushed off again. Another pass landed a plate of grilled fish and potatoes; still he had not noticed her. Ace yelled out something that sounded like a cry of celebration (or maybe a toast), followed by “Bottoms up!” and swallowed the ale in a single shot. Almost as soon as the glass touched the bar, it had been refilled.  

“This is GOOD!” Ace laughed, slapping her back. “Hey! Why haven’t you eaten?” he looked at her with what might have been mild concern. 

“There’s nothing wrong with me!” she snapped, taking down her entire pint in one go.  The room began to swim as she put the glass back down. 

“You know, you don’t have to out drink me,” he grinned.

“Just you watch,” she challenged, as she tried to down another.

“You may want to have a bite or two of something,” he laughed, catching her as she started to slide off the stool. “Eat. I’m treating, remember?” He waved a potato in her face. 

   A few plates and several pints later, Jiro came and set a slate down between them, saying 

“Yer tab,” and he was off to toss a couple of rowdy marines out the back door.

“Ready?” Ace snickered, grabbing her arm and pulling her to her feet “Run!”

   She tried to follow him back to the door, but the room swam, shifting from right to left, each step felt as though it would never reach the floor. ‘Please don’t let me go’ she thought, fearing if he did, she would fall into oblivion. By some miracle, they found their way out into the street. 

“Now, If we can figure out where the dock is before they see we’re gone…” 

“You don’t know where the dock is?” She felt panicked as she imagined Jiros face when he realized they had left the tab open.

“I did. I just forgot.” 

“Are you stupid?”

“No. I’m drunk!”

“Isn’t that worse?”

“No, because you can get over drunk. You don’t get over stupid”

“But they’re gonna see us gone; they’ll whip me for sure this time!”

“But don’t you know what way the dock is? You’re from this place, right?”

“Yah- Yes I do, but I don’t know if I can walk” 
His horrible crooked grin was back as he grabbed her and tossed her over his shoulder.

“But I can walk fine. Well, I could anyway, if I knew what way I was going. Right then. So, Gray, Where are we going?” and without waiting for her answer he took off.

“Yer going the wrong way!” she squeaked, feeling the ale working its way back up “And if you don’t drop me, I’ll kill you!”

“Fine.” He dropped her in the middle of the road. “Is that better?”

   “No. No it’s not! Now we’ll never find the dock,” tears welling in her eyes as she rubbed her hip. ”We are lost in a town with only one main street. And they are gonna whip me when they catch us. And we’re about as lost as we can get in a town with only one main street!”

   He looked at her for a minute, blinking “Why didn’t you say that sooner? If there is only one street, the only way left to go is opposite way from what we went before. How old are you, anyway?” 

   He shook his head, grabbing her arm and pulling her back to her feet. “They aren’t gonna catch us, come on, up you go…”

Half carrying, half dragging her, he ran towards the dock. 

   “All you had to say was ‘go downhill,’ and we’d have been there already!”  He panted as he stumbled away from the Devils Parlor. “You can stop crying, now. I can see the dock; we’re not lost, just misguided.”

   They made it down to the end of the dock and carried each other to the far end, behind a stack of crates.

“So, Gray, are you in? Want to join up with me?” he asked, snatching his hat back from her head and falling backwards onto the planks.

“You’re crazy! I want to find my father, not die!” She cried, her stomach churning. 

“Anyway, I think I’m gonna be a pirate, and you said-”

   “I said ‘if I was a pirate captain I’d have gutted you,’ but I wasn’t a pirate captain. I was a kid with a boat. Sit down before you fall in the water.” He sighed “Now, if you’ll join me, I’ll have a crew mate. And I have a crazy old geezer who you say wants to beat me black and blue, giving me a bad reputation. As far as I am concerned, these things will make me a pirate captain. So, if you will follow me, we are a pirate crew with a leaky boat, a crazy captain, and a crazier crew. Do you think you can deal with that?”

   She sank down onto the dock beside him; the wood was cool against her face, calming her nerves and slowing her heartbeat. 

   The nausea started to settle. “I dunno, Captain. Do you think you can keep me on my feet? I haven’t been to sea before, so I figure I’ll be pretty useless.”

   “Well, I guess I can, when I can stand myself, that is.” He took a deep breath. “But first, I have to make one thing clear. You have to be honest with me, none of these half a*s answers.”

“Okay” she gulped, fearing what he would ask. “I can do that. But I won’t offer up anything if you don’t ask me.”

“Then we understand each other. First, how old are you?”

“Sixteen. And you, how old are you?”

“Be eighteen in a week, so that works. Did you know that old bartender?”

“Yes, He threw me out this morning, said I was one strike away from being a live bounty, and I was gonna wreck his place, so I wasn’t allowed to stay there anymore.”

“Aah. Now I get why you thought they were gonna whip you” He burst out laughing. “That was pretty damn funny, don’t you think?”
She rolled away from him, trying to hide her face, feeling the heat as she blushed deeper and deeper.

“You’re gonna light up the whole dock if you keep blushing like that” he laughed. “Think you can stand? We can cast off tonight, if you can get on the boat. I figure you want to put some distance between you and that geezer.”

She nodded, climbing shakily to her feet. ”So where is the ship?”

“She’s waiting right there!”  He pointed, beaming with pride.

   ‘I’m gonna die,’ she thought, looking at the tiny boat he was climbing into. It was hardly big enough for the two of them, much less a whole crew. Most fishermen would have sunk it out of pity, with the crooked single mast and tattered sail. 

“Come on.” He reached out to help her onto the boat. 

   As she stepped over the edge, she slipped, falling into him and knocking him to the deck. 

“Are you sure there isn’t anything else you wanted to ask me?” she prompted, panic starting to rise again. ‘Does he still think I am a boy?’ she wondered. 

“Yah,” he nodded as he scrambled out from under her “How much did you drink back there?”

“I have no idea,” she laughed, settling in against the side of the boat.

“Me either!” His laughter rang out again. “But at least we made it back here. Hey, you said you never been on a boat before, do you know if you get sea sick?”

“I dunno,” she sighed, feeling drowsy. “Guess we’ll find out, huh?”

“Yah. Hey, Gray? Why do you want to be a pirate?”
Her eyes were feeling heavy and she was starting to feel the world slipping away. 

   “Because I hate Marines. And if I am a pirate, I might get to find my father.” 
The rocking of the boat and the sound of the waves was entrancing, making it harder and harder to stay awake.

“Why hate marines?” he probed.

   “I was born in Eaux Reve, and, when the Marines came to the town hunting a pirate, they had no sense of good and bad. We had been attacked by pirates and bandits and other monsters before, but they all had some sort of code, some restraint, and we fought them off easily. The night they attacked, we were outnumbered and taken by surprise. We never had a chance, and they burned the town, entirely. Leaving no one.” She felt tears running down her face again. 

   “Hey” he sat down beside her, setting the boat rocking wildly. “We’ll be away from here soon. You can start over. Get some rest, and we’ll start over tomorrow. Not all marines are that bad, but if we figure out who did that, I promise I’ll let you have first swing at them.”

“Is that supposed to cheer me up? How could that make it better? Those people will never come back.” She felt out of control. ‘Great, good way to start off with my new boss’ she thought.

“I shouldn’t have asked” he said, shaking his head “I’m not thinking. I’m sorry”
She felt tears flowing freely, and buried her head into her arms, trying to make them stop.

   “Gray, please, I’m sorry. You don’t have to cry. Me and my stupid mouth. We are both drunk, you know that. Please” He sounded desperate. She held her breath, trying to hold in the sobs. “Please? I understand. I really do. I know what it’s like to lose someone, probably better than anyone. And you still have your father, right? I’ll help you find him. So please?”

   She looked up to meet his dark grey eyes. They were filled with concern, and his foolish grin was gone, replaced by a stern and compassionate look. 

“You don’t even know me,” she whispered. “How can you care?”

   “Maybe” he said, leaning closer, “because you remind me of someone: lost, unwanted, and alone; left feeling like you were the biggest mistake in the world. Or, maybe because I hate to be alone, and the idea of having a companion, no matter how odd or confused, to come with me and trust me makes you appealing for my friendship.”
Her heart raced, and she could feel his warm breath against her skin, still thick with the smell of ale.

“Who is it that I remind you of?” she whispered, softer still.

   “Me,” he leaned in. She caught her breath, expecting his lips to meet hers, but they didn’t. He leaned his head on her shoulder. “You remind me of myself. Only, I don’t have that promise of finding my father. I don’t have a treasure waiting over the next horizon that will answer all those questions.”

“Why? Surly there is some treasure, somewhere, that will bring you some comfort” she asked, finally breathing out.

   “There is, I suppose. Maybe I will find the answer somewhere on this vast ocean. Or, maybe I’ll come across my brother and everything will make sense. I won’t know until it happens. But if you are willing to go with me, support me as I hunt for something that isn’t there, then I will, in return, do whatever it takes to help you find your answer.” 

“What if I wasn’t totally honest with you?” she asked, afraid of what he would say.

“Did you answer my questions honestly?”

“Yes.”

“Then that is what matters. All things will come in time, I suppose.”

“You aren’t more worried about where I came from, or who I am? All I did was give you a name? And what if that wasn’t even my real name?”

“Was it your real name?” he asked, seemingly only half listening.

“No”

“Then I don’t have to call you Gray. I think I’ll call you Red instead, it fits you better. You’re a hot tempered red head. Gray is hardly a good description of you.”

“Hey, Ace?” she asked, sliding out from under him “How drunk are you?”

“I don’t suppose I know how to gauge that.” His grin was back. “But I guess I’ll forget most of this conversation, if that’s what you are worried about.”

“Is it drunk like the old men at the bar that don’t remember why they are there, or even where they are?”

   “I’ll remember that you are my crew and that I went and named you Red. And I’ll remember that you and I are both lost. But I don’t know beyond that.” He looked at her, those eyes once again filled with amusement. “And if you are worried about me forgetting how we came to be at sea, I had no idea where we were going from the start, so I don’t suppose it matters. Why’d you ask?”

“I dunno” she whispered, leaning in “Maybe I hope you do forget” 
She leaned back against him, waiting for another witty answer. His breath came softer and more even, and his eyes were closed. She reached up, running her hand along the side of his face. 

“If only you knew who I really was,” she whispered, and then she kissed him.