• Chapter 1:
    I am the Pirate, and You are the Princess.


    Night had ended and the sun slowly rose over the horizon in the country Falion. Time had long passed since the day of the ancients. Legends and the ways of the people from long ago had been forgotten. The guardians of Falion, the Vessels, and their partners, the Protectors, had become an extinction. Or so everyone had thought. No one seemed to have a single care about the legends... Except for one particular girl.

    Ellie von Ganswindt, a young girl at the age of seventeen, stood on a mast of a grand airship. Ellie's structure was tall and slim and her face was gave a strong look. Royal purple was the color of her eyes, making them conspicuous to the rest of her body. Eyes of such color was very rare in Falion, no one who was famous had the eye color in hundreds of years. Ellie was a sky pirate for the Black Dragons, a notorious Sky Pirate crew. Their home boat was a large Airship that resembled a black dragon; it was called Leviathan. The Black Dragons were known to steal from almost every place from the city, as today, was going to be their biggest raid yet.

    “Hey Ellie!” Down below, a man with short red hair was standing near the mast and waving his hand to Ellie. Ralph Antonov, Ellie's dear friend from when she first started her life as a pirate. He was like a dear brother to Ellie. Ellie jumped down from the mast and landed right behind Ralph, without a single wince or stumble.
    “Man... Don't you think you're hurting your feet?” Ellie only laughed out loud, “Not at all. If I can't feel pain, they don't feel it either.” Ralph grabbed Ellie's head and rubbed it with all his might, “Your feet will fall off!” Ellie had quickly moved her head back after her head was rubbed, getting her long ebony hair messed up. Ellie pulled out a ribbon from her pocket and quickly tied her hair up with the ribbon. Ralph was only watching, “Say...”
    “What is it?”
    “What's the story behind that ribbon again?” Ellie looked up at Ralph and sighed, “I can't tell if you keep forgetting it or if you like it that much.”

    Leaning against the mast, Ellie started her story, “When I was living in the orphanage, there was this girl who I played with everyday. She wasn't from the orphanage, but she visited me everyday.” Ralph listened as if he was indulged in the girl's story.
    “One day, she told me we couldn't play together anymore. She never gave me reason, she never gave me her name, or if I could do anything. Nothing. But I had found myself on the ground, a gash on my back. Before I passed out, she placed the ribbon in my hand and left me bleeding.”
    “Captain saved you and took you in, right?” Ralph placed his hands behind his head, “What are you going to do? About the girl, that is.” Ellie glanced at Ralph and grinned, “I'm going to find her. And when I do I'll...” Ellie snapped her fingers and grinned even wider, “I'm going to make her my bride!” Ellie made it seem like a joke, but in the inside of her heart, she was dead serious.

    A fellow sky pirate ran up to the upper deck to Ellie and Ralph, “We're almost done with preparations!” A look of satisfaction was on Ellie's face, “I'll tell the captain right away!” Ellie had quickly made her way to the stairway that lead to the main deck and went down the stairs, changing her route to the Captain's quarters.

    Ellie stood at the great metal door and opened it. There was a giant wooden table was in the middle of the room with a spacious map of Falion sitting on the top. A jumbo-sized wooden desk sat near the end of the room and a man was sitting behind it. The man was robust and brawny, his head was completely naked of hair. The only region with hair on his head was on his face, a beard that seemed naturally spiked. The captain of the Black Dragons, Captain Anstis. His expression was a scowl when hearing the door open. Ellie walked in and closed the door behind her.
    “Captain, everything is almost prepared for!” Ellie announced, standing straight and giving Captain a salute. Captain's face had softened, his scowl turned into a grin.
    “Excellent! Gather everyone at the main deck.” Ellie nodded, “Roger!” Ellie turned around and opened the door, leaving the captain's quarters.

    As soon as Ellie exited the room, she began running down the hallways towards the main deck. She cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted, “Everyone to the main deck, orders from the captain!” The crew members who had heard Ellie started to shout the same thing Ellie had shouted. Ellie reached the main deck, the rest of the crew members joining Ellie shortly. In total, there was nineteen pirates in the main deck. Everyone had formed into a straight line. Ellie stood near the middle of the line.

    All was soundless and nothing was heard. No one spoke. The whole crew stood straight as if they were in the military. Loud footsteps were coming from the direction the Captain's quarters was. Captain then appeared and stood in front of everyone, looking at each and every one of the crew members. A smirk spread widely on his face and he yelled, “Is everybody ready!” The crew members rose their fists into the air, “Yeah!”
    “We've prepared this event for a long time now. Let's show the Kingdom of Estys who the Black Dragons are!” Once again, everyone in the crew rose their fists into the air and shouted, “Yeah!”
    “Get ready to initiate the plan!” Everyone had moved to where their assigned areas were.

    Ellie was making her way to the hangar. A large strong hand laid itself on Ellie's shoulder, stopping her in her tracks. Ellie turned around and saw it was Captain, “Yes, captain?”
    “Are you ready for this Ellie?” Ellie gave a large grin and flexed her right arm, placing her left hand on her bicep, “Of course I'm ready for this! I'm the one who came up with the idea of raiding the kingdom anyways.” Captain laughed aloud, slapping Ellie on the back hard, “That's right! A great idea it was. Do your best out there!” Ellie stumbled forward as she was slapped on the back, “Roger!” Ellie gave a salute to Captain and then ran towards the lower deck.

    Ellie stood in front of two extensive metal doors. She grabbed the handles and pushed forward. Small airships were lined up together. The only purpose of the small airships were to get to places quick. Though, only two to three people were its max capacity for passengers. Some of the airships had built-in weapons, such as firearm.

    Ralph was sitting inside of one of the smallest air crafts there was in the whole airship. It's purpose was fast transportation and that was exactly what Ellie needed. Ellie made her way to Ralph, stopping beside the air craft, “Is it ready yet?” Ralph turned his head to Ellie, his goggles shield his eyes, “Just hold on a second 'ere.” Ralph turned back to the front and started to turn on some of the controls. The engine started to roar loudly. Ralph turned back to Ellie grinning, “It's ready to go!”

    Ellie looked back at the remaining air crafts, they were small just like the one Ralph was going to pilot. Ellie cupped her hands to her mouth, “Is everyone ready to go?” The remaining crew members shouted, “Yes!” Ellie jumped onto the wing of Ralph's airship then jumped into the cockpit, sitting on the seat that was behind Ralph's seat, “Let's go!” The rest of the crew got into the small air crafts, ready to follow Ellie. Ralph pressed a button on the control panel and the safety glass came down. Ralph took hold of the yoke and pushed it forward. The aircraft was flying out of the hangar and into the sky.

    “Men, are you ready?” Captain was in a ship with three others inside. They nodded their heads and Captain immediately yelled, “Go!” The pirates were jumping out of the ships and landed in the courtyard. More and more ships came by and more and more pirates came to the courtyard. As soon as the guards saw how many pirates there were, they panicked and called for all the backup there was in the castle. More guards had arrived and then stood in a row in front of the courtyard, their weapons pointed at the pirates. Captain cracked his knuckles, giving only a smirk, “Hey... Things just became a party!” the crew laughed and charged at the guards, their rifles and cutlass' ready.

    Ralph's air craft flew swiftly in the sky, heading towards the only castle in Estys.
    “Hey Ellie.” Ralph started. Ellie was staring at the sky, “What's up?”
    “This is very important you know. One mistake and we're going to be in trouble.”
    “I know. We're dealing with the Kingdom of Estys, the capital of the country.”
    “That's right. So if any of us are caught, we're totally screwed.” Ellie looked down, seeing the kingdom not far ahead, “Right.” Examining the courtyard, she saw that the plan was already put into action. The captain and the rest of the crew were dealing with the guards at the courtyard. A simple diversion for Ellie to sneak into the treasury.

    Ralph stopped the airship beside one of the windows on the castle, “Rumor has it that the treasury is just down this hallway, so hurry alright?” The safety glass opened and Ellie jumped out of her seat and landed inside of the castle, “Got it!”
    “Oh wait! Ellie, one more thing!” Ralph shouted before Ellie had ran off, Ellie turned around, “What is it?”
    “Don't take too much! This airship can only take so much weight, all right?” Ellie nodded, “Of course!” Ellie then ran down the hall, towards the treasury. The safety glass then came down and Ralph flew away from the window. Quickly enough, the other pirates came in through the same window to assist Ellie with the raid.

    The corridor was lengthy, making the excessive room that was at the end of it, filled with wonderful treasure, seem distant. Ellie and the other pirates turned a corner. Ellie rose an arm, keeping the others back. There was two guards guarding the treasury. The treasure was locked away behind the two metal doors that stood behind the guards. Ellie grinned and walked towards the two guards.
    “Halt! Who are you!” The guards ran to Ellie and drew their blades, ready to attack the girl if she made any sudden movements. Ellie just smiled at the guards, “Yo!” she said, raising a hand. Ellie drew out her cutlass, pointing it towards the guards, “Let's dance for a little bit...” she said with a grin, her other hand grabbing hold of her blunderbuss and pointed it at one of the guards and pulled the trigger, sending him flying back. The impact of the bullet was far more greater than the armor the knight wore could defend. The second guard lunged at Ellie, striking at Ellie with his longsword. Ellie used her cutlass to block the attack, moving back from the impact. Ellie charged at the guard, attempting to ram into him. As Ellie got near, the guard thrust his sword into Ellie's gut. Ellie stopped moving. Her head slowly dropped down and her arms went down to her side, letting go of her cutlass.
    “Don't mess with us guards of Estys.” A sudden loud echo of a gunshot was heard in the corridor.

    “Don't underestimate me..” Ellie stood over the guard, a foot on his chest plate, “Name's Ellie von Ganswindt, sky pirate for Black Dragons. Nice to meet you. I'll meet you in the next life.” Ellie smiled sweetly, pointing her blunderbuss at the guard's head, pulling the trigger immediately. Ellie didn't find any wrong in taking care of obstacles that were in her way.

    Ellie took two steps back and took out a bomb. She took out a match and lit it. Taking the lit match, Ellie lit the bomb and whipped it towards the metal doors. On contact, there was a humongous explosion. The smoke was thick but it soon cleared up quicker than expected. The metal doors were taken care of and no one was in the way of the pirates and the treasure. Ellie walked calmly towards the treasury, grabbing the longsword that was stabbed inside of her stomach and pulled it out, dropping it as soon as it was out of her flesh.

    The treasury was being emptied one by one. It was completely empty within seconds. Ellie grinned as she leaned on the wall. The plan happened just as it should have went. The rest of the crew had gone ahead, leaving Ellie behind. A strange sensation ran throughout Elli's body, causing her to feel uneasy. It was as if something was calling her. Turning around, Ellie slowly made her way down the corridor, picking up her cutlass on the way. Her walking soon became running when she felt her heart beating fast. Something was here. The reason why she decided to raid the castle was nearby.

    Ellie ran down corridors and turned corners. It all seemed endless for her. Where was the end? Ellie couldn't even tell. The uneasy feeling had fade away. Ellie found herself standing before an ample wooden door. Ellie held the handle tightly and took a step back, pulling the door open. There stood a girl. Her short blond hair curled at the end. The girl's body was small, making it seem fragile. The innocence in her sky blue eyes and pale skin complimented the way she looked overall. Ellie stared at her, she was adorable in her eyes.
    “Can I help you?” the girl asked, her voice was calming and soothing. She seemed harmless, a gentle girl. Ellie felt as if this wasn't the first time she's met this girl. Ellie walked up to the girl, “What's your name?” Ellie's voice was strong, she was eager to know who this girl was. Tilting her head, the girl replied, “Lorena. Lorena de Valence.” Ellie didn't know a Lorena, but she didn't know the name of the girl she met as a child. This girl could be her, “Well then, Lorena.. You're coming with me.”

    Loud footsteps were coming closer to the room. Ellie grabbed Lorena's wrist and turned around. Lorena seemed to notice the red ribbon Ellie wore. She stared at it and frowned. Lorena didn't pull back or fought back. Ellie leaned against the wall, beside the door, holding Lorena close to her as well. The footsteps stopped on the other side of the wall. Ellie drew her blunderbuss and pointed it at a table, shooting at it. The door burst open, a guard running into the room. Ellie pointed her gun to his head and pulled the trigger. The guard fell over, now lifeless. Ellie pushed him away with her foot, “Come.” she said, pulling on Lorena's wrist.

    Ellie was running fast and was literally was dragging Lorena behind her. Turning a corner, Ellie noticed it was a dead end. Clicking her tongue, she ran back. Ellie noticed a door, walking over to it and pushing the door open. It was a door to a flight of stairs, going to the next floor. An idea came into Ellie's head, “This way.” Ellie went into the door, pulling Lorena with her and closing it immediately. Leaning against the door, Ellie pulled out a cellphone, dialing a number and placing it against her ear. Lorena stared at the cellphone, like a clueless child.
    “Hello?” the voice on the other line was Ralph.
    “Listen Ralph, the guards almost caught me. I'm on my way to the roof of the building.”
    “The roof? I got it. Be quick, I don't think Captain will be able to hold them off any longer.”
    “Got it.” Ellie hung up, and looked at Lorena, “How many floors are there in this building?”
    “There's four. We're on the third floor.” It seemed as if Lorena was familiar of this building. Ellie wondered what she was doing in the castle anyways, but for now, it wasn't that important to her.

    Ellie and Lorena bolted up the stairs and it seemed Lorena didn't have the stamina Ellie had. She was getting weak in the knees as she kept running. She didn't seem like she was the athletic type at all, so it wasn't much of a surprise. Ellie stopped and turned to Lorena, picking her up bridal style, “No offense, but you're gonna slow us down a bit. This will pick up the pace.” Ellie once again started to run up the stairs. She didn't at all seem to be weighed down by Lorena. Lorena seemed almost weightless.

    The two reached the fourth floor. Ellie peered out the door, “Where do I go to get to the stairway of the roof?” Ellie whispered silently but loud enough for Lorena to hear.
    “Go down the corridor on the left, and then go straight. You'll see a door there. The stairs will be beyond the door.”
    “You sure do know this building, don't you?” Ellie said, giving a satisfied smile. Swiftly, Ellie bolted out the door and ran to her left as instructed by Lorena. As Lorena said, there was a door just down the corridor. Ellie skid to a stop in front of the door.
    “Stop right there!” Ellie looked behind her, a group of guards were behind Ellie. Ellie cursed under her breath and looked at the door. Kicking down the door, Ellie escaped, running up the flight of stairs.

    “Kill the pirate, now!” the head guard ordered.
    “Yes sir!” the rest of the guards replied and charged towards the stairway.
    “Don't let her get away, no matter what! Bring Lady Lorena back unharmed!” the head guard shouted, running behind the others. He was determined to get Lorena back from Ellie.

    Ellie was getting tired, she could hear gunshots behind her. She didn't let them stop her, she kept on running, a tenacious expression on her face. The yelling sounded distant to Ellie. She wasn't focusing on the gunshots or the men. The door to the rooftop came into sight. Ellie made no hesitations to go forward. The pirate leaped and kicked the door, knocking it down on impact.

    Running to the edge of the building, Ellie called out loudly, “Ralph!!”
    “Stop right there!” the guards had surrounded Ellie and Lorena. Ellie turned around to face the guard. She tried to back up as much as she could, but she only had so much room. If she moved back any more, she'd fall off the edge.
    “Hand over the girl and we'll spare you from death.” the head guard offered, taking a step closer to Ellie and Lorena. Ellie held Lorena tightly, then a menacing laughter broke out from Ellie, “You think I'm scared? Try again later!” Ellie kicked off of the edge of the building and into the air, falling towards the ground, Lorena in her arms.

    The ground was getting closer and closer to the two. It was only a few meters away from them. With a thump, Ellie and Lorena landed, not on the ground. Ralph's air craft had come from under them, saving the two at the last minute, “Hope I wasn't too late.”
    “Earlier would have been better.” Ellie muttered
    “No matter, your big brother is here!” Ralph turned around and looked at Lorena, “So, who's this?”
    “Let's cut the small talk for after we're in the clearing. Just get us out of here as soon as possible!” Ellie looked back, the guards had gotten into air crafts, ones with built-in weapons.
    “s**t! Go, go, go!” Ellie yelled. Ralph didn't hesitate, the air craft zipped through the sky. It almost seemed as if the extra weight coming from Lorena had no affect on it whatsoever.

    Lorena had a tight grip on Ellie's shirt. She was afraid and her body was trembling. Ellie noticed the small quivers coming from Lorena's fragile body.
    “Hey, it's all right. We'll be safe from these guys soon enough, okay?” Ellie whispered into her ear, silently and gently. Lorena looked up at Ellie, she was slightly biting her lip. Nodding her head, Lorena placed her head under Ellie's chin. Ellie placed her hand on Lorena's head, caressing her hair, attempting to make her feel safe. The aircraft started to vibrate, the side of the aircraft had been hit by a missile. The side of the aircraft was set aflame.
    “s**t!” Ralph started to panic, the aircraft was unstable, swirling towards the ground. Ralph tried all the controls, nothing was working. The sirens were blaring loudly and inside of the aircraft was flashing red.
    “What's going on!?” Ellie's grip on Lorena became tighter.
    “The controls! They're.. They're not working! The impact made them malfunction!”

    Ellie grit her teeth, holding Lorena as tight as she can. A strange sensation overcame her body. Calming, the same feeling as a cool summer's breeze in the prairie lands. Opening her eyes, the first thing Ellie saw was Lorena. It felt as if Lorena was the cause of this energy. The fingers which locked itself on Lorena felt warmer, but why?

    “What...?” Ralph wasn't touching any of the controls. The aircraft was moving by itself. It had lifted itself and started moving at a fast pace, towards the sky once again. Ellie didn't know what was going on. Looking at Lorena, Ellie noticed Lorena clenching onto her jacket, breathing heavily with her eyes closed tightly.

    “Let's rumble, royal scum!” Captain laughed as he grabbed a guard's sword, breaking in half. His great fist pounded into the guard's head, causing him to fall over and pass out. Captain's attention had wondered elsewhere, into the sky. He noticed Ralph's aircraft was going faster than its maximum speed limit. Captain then saw it, the smoke from the side of the aircraft, yet it continued to move. It was suspicious, “Retreat! Back to the ship now!” Captain yelled. The black dragons didn't hesitate at all to retreat. Air crafts were flying towards the Leviathan, escaping the grasp of the royal guards with no harm done to the pirates.

    Missiles and bullets were being fired by the royal guards, aiming at the small aircraft. The aircraft was averting itself from the attacks with ease. An explosion was audible and the aircraft didn't shake. Ellie turned her head to look back, her eyes widened. What she was seeing was outstanding. She had never seen anything like it before. Two giant orbs, engulfed in flames. It was the power of the Vessels.

    Magic. Could it be that Lorena was a vessel? Ellie couldn't her eyes off of the balls of fire. It was right behind the aircraft. Smaller fireballs shot out at the larger ones, hitting the air crafts the guards were in, setting it on fire, soon, they exploded within six seconds. It was a bit frightening, seeing such dangerous attacks for the first time. In less than five minutes, the royal guards' fleets were all destroyed. Lorena opened her eyes and gasped. The aircraft no longer flew and was plummeting towards the ground once again. Lorena quickly tensed up, closing her eyes once again. The aircraft stayed airborne.

    That had confirmed it. Lorena was a vessel. It seemed Ellie was the only one conscious of it.
    “The Leviathan is just straight ahead!” the grand pirate's airship had come to view, the small aircraft flew towards the hangar. It didn't stop upon entering the hangar.
    “Get down!” Ralph yelled, lowering his head. Ellie pinned Lorena down to the seat, Ellie used her jacket the shield the both of them. The aircraft was about to slam into the wall. Lorena opened her eyes before the collision. The safety glass on the aircraft cracked, shattering to pieces.

    Ellie's eyes fluttered open, without hesitation, she sat up. She was sitting on her bed, which was inside of her cabin.
    “You've awoken.” Ellie turned her head, seeing Lorena sitting on a chair beside the bed. Ellie looked down at herself, she was shirtless. Bandages covered her chest to her stomach.
    “The glass cut your back, so I bandaged you up. You'll be able to take off those bandages within a few days.” Ellie grabbed one of the bandages and pulled on it, unwrapping herself from the linen wraps.
    “Ellie! What are you doing-!” Lorena was shocked as she saw Ellie's back was completely clear of cuts. Ellie got off her bed and walked towards her drawer, opening it and putting on a t-shirt. Ellie walked back to Lorena, her hair was down, eyes covered by her bangs, “Who are you exactly...”
    “I'm Lorena de Valence...” A slight murmur was in Lorena's voice. Lorena had gotten up from the chair and moved back a little, but the bed stopped her from moving any further, though it caused Lorena to sit on the bed. Ellie moved the chair away from the two, crouching down in front of Lorena, “I already know one secret. Be honest with me.” Ellie's voice was calm, it showed no sense of rage or vehemence.

    Breathing in, Lorena closed her eyes. Lorena waited seconds until she opened her eyes once again, looking Ellie straight in the eyes, “My name is Lorena de Valence.. I am the Princess of Estys.. And I am a Vessel.”