Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ Le Maree Della Guerra (The Tides of War) ❯ Deep Sea War ( Chapter 3 )

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Le Maree Della Guerra

By: Melissa Norvell/Revamp

Movement 3: Deep Sea War

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Oro gazed over the railing of the boat, down on the countless soldiers below. They marched on, prepared for the Great War that was about to befall them. No doubt Accord's armies had already infiltrated the gates. With Earlkonig gone, they could come and go as they pleased. This wasn't something that he wanted to relive. It wasn't anything he wanted to do, but it was something he must do, and this time he was going to make sure that Accord stayed dead.

Angla and Percuss stood on deck as they passed over the castle. The sword fish's eyes were still locked on the gathering of denizens below. Orzo stood out on the balcony of the castle. Momentarily, the narwhal king looked skyward and then his eyes reverted back to the crowd before him.

'I missed my opportunity. If I had stayed down there, I could have spied on him, but I just had to be stupid and get involved with these guys. Talk about feeling out of my league.' Percuss gazed around at the powerful members of Nautica's royalty who graced her with their presence. 'All of these guys are scary. I could hate to go to war with any of them. Angla seems like the most normal of them, and even he's strange.'

Worry crossed her face as she sighed to herself. "What do I do now?"

Angla looked to the assassin beside him. "I take it you've never been in a war?"

"No," Percuss looked to her newly acquired friend, "I just do inside jobs for people."

That caught the orca's ear, and a tone of amusement bled through his voice, "inside jobs? So you're an assassin?" Angla did always have the most interesting taste in friends.

"Yes," Percuss didn't want to admit it, but she figured letting them know wasn't a true hindrance to her mission.

Oro caught wind of their conversation and gazed at her from his position near the nose of the ship. Bright blue eyes pierced a hole through her form where she stood.

"Who are you going to kill?" Why else would an assassin be there? Isatsu was interested in this girl's motives. Surely, she had some if she was coming into Nautica.

"I haven't found them yet," Percuss was on her guard when it came to that orca. 'He's dumber than he looks if he thinks I'm telling him the truth.' Honestly, what did he take her for?

"Is it a Sea King?" Isatsu pressed, leaning in.

Percuss could feel the pressure. Not only was this orca a creepy asshole, but he was good at being persistent. "Not that I know of," she blinked, trying to retain her cool. "Someone just had a vendetta against a certain fish down here."

"What did your client look like?" Angla was intrigued. He had his own personal reasons for asking, but he was highly interested.

'What are they trying to do?' Percuss felt even more interrogated by them. She was beginning to wonder if it was really a good idea to tell them that she was an assassin. The swordfish immediately regretted her decisions. "He wore a black suit and I couldn't see his face. I know he wore a robe and a monocle because of the glowing of the light in the room reflected off of it. His other features I couldn't make out." It wasn't really a lie, Percuss had only heard this guy's voice before she went to meet him that fateful day she received her orders to assassinate King Orzo.

"Did he wear any wave patterns?" Isatsu wondered if it was someone from the Deep Sea. Their outfits consisted of a blue and white color scheme, with the patterns of white and blue wave crests scattered throughout them. They were also known for wearing long coats. If she could tell him that one detail, then he would know just who she was.

"I don't remember any," Percuss shook her head. This guy definitely dressed in monochromatic black.

'I feel like he's piercing a hole in my soul. That guy makes me anxious.' Percuss could help but look at the scarred up Shark King. His eyes were locked onto her, and he stood at the tip of the ship, unmoving. She was like prey in a predator's sight.

"Shouldn't we be looking for Accord?" Oro spoke, reminding them of their original mission.

"That's why I'm standing here. You have a great view of the horizon." Angla placed a hand over his brow, gazing across the land with watchful, red eyes.

"We're in for a long run," Isatsu's expression morphed from that smug smile to something serious. "As much as I love fighting, I hate this."

"You're the only veteran here, Orca King," Oro looked to him.

"You mean none of the rest of you have been to war before?" Percuss was shocked to know that. She couldn't believe she was on a ship of newcomers who had no experience. The one guy who knew anything about going to war was that orca, and she didn't like him at all.

"I was unable to participate in the last Deep Sea War," Oro informed everyone of his little involvement.

"Because you were in a coma," Isatsu let the true reason be known.

"That's terrible," Percuss put a hand to her lips. What could have happened to throw someone like that into a coma? This Accord guy must not be the type to screw around.

"It's minor," Oro shrugged it off as if it wasn't truly a big deal.

Percuss was shell shocked that he would make so lightly of something like that. "Are you serious? How can you say that? You could have never woken up!" Did this guy have no conception of how awful a coma really was? Some people went into comas and never woke up. He was lucky to have survived that ordeal.

"I'm awake now," his answer was simple as he walked away from the group. Oro was thankful for what he had. He pulled through a coma, and he was alive. That was simply just that. There was no time to look back, not now.

"What's his malfunction? He acts like it's nothing to have gone through such a terrible experience." Percuss looked to the other Sea Kings, hoping that they had some kind of explanation for the stoic Shark King's attitude.

Looking to the shark as he his form became smaller with distance, the Fish King gave him a strong gaze. "Oro hates sympathy. He doesn't even let his troops bow to him."

"He runs the hell away from emotions. The only person he shows them to is Angla. He's a different person around the Fish King," Isatsu elaborated on Angla's words.

"Yeah," Angla agreed, "he's soft spoke to me. He's cold to everyone else."

"He's got mental issues," the orca commented, folding his arms over his chest.

"Oro is one of the most feared Sea Kings. He's the best tactician in all of the great sea and he's really smart." Angla couldn't help but admire the intelligence that the scarred-up shark had. One day, he wished to achieve such a status among the troops of their sea army.

"That's why Lord Orzo brought him along," it all made sense to Percuss now.

"That's both good and bad," Angla looked back towards the swordfish.

"What do you mean?" Percuss cocked her head and blinked in confusion.

"He's stubborn and he doesn't listen to anything you say. Sharks seem to share that mentality." Isatsu took a jab at his race. If there was one thing Isatsu hated more than war, it was sharks.

"Oro just," Angla paused for a moment, looking for the right words, "has his own way of operating."

"He doesn't even take the Sea King's advice," Isatsu commented.

"He sounds like someone to keep an eye on. In my profession, an attitude like that would get you killed." Not listening to orders was a cause for clients to kill the assassin. Percuss didn't know how one could live so freely in her profession and not take orders.

"Oro would never do that," Angla defended his dear friend. "If there's anything he is, it's loyal. No matter how much of an outsider he is, he's never backstabbed any of the Sea Kings." The angler fish had faith in the tope shark. He knew that even though the monotoned man was rebellious and seemingly frightening, there was nothing to fear. Oro was thankful for what he had, and he didn't want to lose his affiliation with Nautica.

"Even if he's manipulative," Isatsu didn't make things any better.

"Oh boy," Percuss sighed. She didn't know what to make of that guy. 'I wonder if he's screwing with me or he actually knows something.' The fact that he was the best tactician in all of Nautica didn't do anything for her ego, or putting herself in a safe place by thinking he'd be too stupid to see through her rouse.

Suddenly, she felt pressure around her hand and turned. Before her was something truly startling. She came nose-to-nose with the scar-faced shark. If she would have stepped forward, they would have met in an accidental kiss. Eyes widening, she drew back. "Gack!"

"That's what everyone thinks when they see my face," Oro looked unfazed by her reaction.

Gray eyes darted around wildly for any sight of the others, and no one was present. There wasn't a single person on deck but she and the Shark King. His blue eyes drove more holes into her body as she felt a sense of panic overcome her. "Where's everyone?"

There was something wrong here.

"I told them to leave because I wanted to talk to you myself," Oro knew that she was hiding something. The only question was what.

"What did you want?" Percuss could feel her heart slamming against her sternum with such force that she thought it was going to land in his hands. She really hoped that this guy couldn't see her fear. Sharks did have an uncanny ability for that kind of thing.

"Tell me," Oro demanded, "who sent you here?"

'This again? These people are persistent.' Once again, she'd have to hold her ground against this guy. "I really don't know. What? Is there some kind of problem with outsiders?" If this was how Nautica treated their newcomers, she could see why her client wanted their king assassinated. She was being treated like a murderer in a crime.

"That's none of your business," Oro didn't have to answer to her, and he wouldn't. She came in a time of war. What did she expect?

"It get that, but I can't understand what you want if you don't explain it," Percuss wasn't giving up. She wanted the Shark King to explain what he wanted to know or she wasn't answering anything he had to say.

"Queen Cyra used to be an assassin," if she wanted an explanation, then he would give her one. There was no way that he was going to have a repeat of the past.

"What?" That caught Percuss off guard.

"She was assigned to kill King Orzo for someone. I never did find out who or what for, because most of my memories of the incident were erased." Oro was unsure if it was a spell that was cast, or his coma that made the incident obscure. To be truthful, it could have been either but he knew that Cyra originally wanted to end the good king's life. Whoever assigned her to do the deed might have sent Percuss in her place to do what she had finished years ago.

'This guy is onto me.' Percuss didn't count on facing off against someone with this kind of intellect right off the bat. "If that's how they met, what made him fall in love with her?" It was time for a distraction. She could only hope that it would work.

"It's complicated," he wasn't willing to offer her any more information than that.

"Love always is," Percuss agreed.

"I wouldn't know," Oro seemed generally uninterested in the subject.

"Angla...uh...Lord Angla told me that you really cared about him," the assassin was determined to diver the subject.

"You could call it that," Oro visibly shrugged the situation off.

'It sounds like he doesn't care at all. Angla seemed really nice. What does he see in this guy?' If they had anything between them, Oro was either being really stubborn about showing it or he genuinely was more uninterested than he was. Unrequited love was a sad thing, really. Percuss felt sorry for Angla. She also wasn't aware that Angla was into men as well as women.

"Do you like him more than a friend? I mean, you feel differently around him," Percuss was looking for something at this point, anything that resembled feelings from this guy.

"I desire the Fish King, but I've never been able to identify with love. As long as she's happy, then so am I." Oro was a little confused at the fact that Percuss would call Angla by male pronouns, but he brushed it off as her being ignorant. "I gave Angla an important task."

"A task?" Percuss questioned. 'What kind of screwed up relationship is this? Is everyone here dysfunctional?' Just what kind of company was she in the midst of?

"To be there for me. That's all I desire." It was everything he could have asked of the angler fish. As long as Angla was at his side, Oro was content.

"No offense, but do you feel anything? You're so cold." The sword fish didn't want to be rude, but this guy didn't even seem like a real person.

"A Sea King is a weapon, cold and emotionless. Good monarchs make no mistakes and admit to their faults. They suffer for the millions under their belts and carry the weight of all they rein. People like to call me a tyrant, but an iron-fist is the way to rule." Oro wasn't secretive about his code of ethics. By no means was he truly a tyrant, but he didn't cut anyone any slack, either. He could be benevolent in his ways; it really depended on his state of mind at any given moment in time.

"You have to have some rules," Percuss wasn't sure if he was better or worse than the orca. "When I first thought of Nautica, I pictured chaos everywhere."

The way that the guy described it to her, the assassin really did view Nautica as a place that lacked order or structure. She was shocked to find that it was a peaceful civilization where many different creatures lived together in harmony. It had an amazing monarchy, composed of several branches. Percuss was impressed with them. She felt a little bad that she'd have to murder their good king.

"Murder is permitted here as long as it's within reason, and in no circumstances can you murder a Sea King. Getting in with us has given you sanctity." It was something Oro wasn't sure that she deserved.

"I'm glad that you guys don't mind me coming along. I'm really sorry I snuck into your meeting. I should have stayed outside." It was a clever lie, but Percuss thought that apologizing for it might have made her seem more innocent in his eyes and less suspicious.

"Mind? Your life isn't my concern," the shark could have cared less if she was there or not. If she was a traitor, he could kill her quickly. The assassin was no match for him.

"You're suspicious of me, aren't you?" Somehow, the sword fish knew that he wasn't fooled by her at all. The fact that his eyes held constant persecution in them didn't help the fact.

"An inquiry doesn't make me suspicious. I don't want a repeat of what's happened to me. If you are here to kill one of us, I'll make sure you suffer." The edge that Oro's voice promised was enough to send chills up her spine. If there was anyone she believed would rip her apart on the spot without a second thought, it was Oro.

"I assure you," Percuss placed a hand over her breast, "I'm not after you." Gray eyes looked over him, and beneath all of those layers of clothes, she could see that he had a powerful body, one that was pure muscle. 'If I'm going to do this, then I need to get my strength up. I have no idea how strong this guy is, but I have a feeling he could blink and I'd drop dead.' Her eyes shifted to his back, where a giant barbell with spikes on either end hung at an angle. The thing was huge in comparison to his body. 'That weapon is huge. How does he even carry it?'

"What kind of fish are you supposed to kill?" If she had no problem telling him, Oro knew that she wasn't a threat.

'Oh no you don't, shark man.' Percuss wasn't about to fall for that psychology. "A puffer fish, a real deadly type, I believe he belongs to someone's army." It was a quick lie, but she wasn't going to give him any leeway to suspect her. 'I hope there's at least one fish that looks like that.'

If there wasn't, then she was screwed.

"If they are, I don't care to notice," Oro had no interest in fish. That was Angla's army, and a set of problems outside of his reach.

Just then, a loud boom sounded through the ship. It shook violently, causing the Shark King to be knocked off of his feet. Oro fell backwards, pulled by the weight of his barbell, and Percuss stumbled, but caught herself before her face made contact with the wood. The two looked at each other as Oro sat up.

"What the hell?" Were they being attacked? Percuss wondered what was going on.

"There's trouble," Oro's expression hardened as he got up and ran towards the other end of the ship.

Percuss followed, the clacking of her boots pounded against the wood grain as she made her way to the source of the sound. "Did we get attacked?"

Suddenly, the shark stopped and a flabbergasted visage crossed his face before he fell backwards in disbelief.

"What's," Percuss paused with a similar look on her face. "Huh?"

Before them was a Cat Shark. He looked young, like a boy in his teen years. He had shoulder-length, straight, messy dark brown hair and wore a vest with black fur around the top. Beneath it he wore a white shirt with ruffled sleeves and a cravat with the symbol of a shark on it. He also wore black pants and shoes with a red sash and held a unique-looking blade with a split on the tip of the blade. His dark-brown, cat-like eyes glared them all down as a sharp-toothed smile adorned his face.

"Yeah! No one told me about this! Do you think I just popped out of nowhere? When I heard about it, I snuck on here." Whoever it was, this guy was proud of what he had done.

"No one told you because we don't want you here," Isatsu growled, giving him a hateful look. The last thing he wanted was another shark, much less an annoying one like this guy.

"No one wants you here, either," the shark crossed his arms over his chest as the two had an intense glaring session. They looked as if they wanted to burn holes through each other's bodies with their pupils.

"You guys," Angla blinked, trying to break their concentration.

"Shut up, Angla!" They both turned and shot simultaneously.

Angla sighed. "Fine, tear each other's heads off for all I care." If they were that insistent on fighting, they would do it rather he had a say in it or not.

"That stupid shark doesn't know what's good for him." He really needed to stay down with the rest of the troops. Isatsu thought that was where peons like him belonged.

"Why don't you come over here and say it to my face? You worthless sack of blubber," the shark wasn't going to just stand there and be insulted by that orca. Honestly, that guy should have been lucky he was even included into the ranks of the Sea Kings.

"What did you say?" Isatsu shot in malice.

"Who is that shark?" Percuss was just confused.

"That's Ketzel," Oro sighed, rubbing his temples. He really didn't want Ketzel there, but the meddlesome boy tended to find his way into every situation. It didn't help that he often spied on him to become involved whether they wanted him there or not.

"Ketzel?" Percuss blinked, gazing at the wild-looking shark before her.

"You looking at something, Scar Face?" Ketzel sneered at his king.

"Nothing," Oro meant that in two different ways, but he was only going to answer if Ketzel asked. He doubted the dense underling would say anything more to him.

"I'll pretend I didn't hear that," Ketzel looked annoyed. He knew what Oro meant by 'nothing'. Implying that he was nothing, so therefore he was looking at nothing. How rude.

"I should pretend not to hear you," the orca continued to combat him with cruel sarcasm.

"I would try that, but you're so damned loud it wouldn't work," Ketzel argued, making fun of his deep voice.

"I'll kill you," the orca growled. His voice held great promise and a world of pain in store for the shorter shark.

"I'll kill you both if you don't shut up," Oro groaned, his hand sliding down his face in irritation. This was one of the reasons he didn't want Ketzel on board with them. Every time he got around the Orca King, the two fought and sometimes, their fights were violent.

"We're supposed to be fighting the Deep Sea Army, guys," Angla reminded them that it was better that they concentrate on the enemy instead of ending each other's lives.

"I was, until this piece of trash jumped on me," Isatsu let them know what the fight resulted from. Ketzel was the aggressor in their little altercation.

"You deserved it," Ketzel continued to argue. That orca had it coming to him.

Angla sighed, "I thought you were supposed to help the others patrol the ground." He really would have rather Ketzel stayed down there with everyone else. Why in the world the shark was being so stubborn was beyond him.

Ketzel walked over to the magnificent, wooden railing of the ship and pointed to the massive armies below, marching in defined lines. "With these billions of people? What difference does it make that I'm up here?" What was one person compared to the many below? The shark didn't see a reason to be down there with all those guys.

"You defied my orders," Oro reminded him of his duties.

"It was just this once!" Ketzel threw out his arms. "Hey! You gotta understand. I haven't seen this much action since I left Nautica. Cut me some slack, would ya?" Surely, his king could grant him grace over being excited over all that was transpiring. Oro wasn't that cold-hearted.

"You didn't give me a choice," it was kind of hard for him to do anything else but grant Ketzel grace. It wasn't like Oro was going to throw him off of the ship for disobeying him. He just had to work with that minor infraction.

"Sure he did," Isatsu argued the fact, "you could shoot him out of a canon." In fact, he would have rather seen Ketzel's ass blasted into the enemy army.

"What was that?" Ketzel seethed.

"Like I'm scared of a midget shark." When standing, Isatsu was an impressive six-foot one compared to Ketzel's five-foot-two.

"Midget? MIDGET!?!" The shark stomped with both feet, becoming increasingly offended at the remark.

"This is why I prefer to work alone," Oro continued to sigh, slumped over. He really just wanted the fighting to end, and for Ketzel to disappear.

"Coming from someone who acts like a machine," Ketzel yelled from his position on the boat. He wasn't going to let Oro get away with saying something like that about him.

"I don't have time for you." Honestly, he was sick of hearing his subordinate back talk him.

"Because you're a stuck-up jerk, you think you're so awesome because you're strong-"

Angla cut him off, "Ketzel, don't."

"Why? He's being a smartass," Ketzel whined. He didn't like fighting with the angler fish. It was unfair that Angla included himself in their dispute.

"You really don't want to," the Fish King warned, "besides, that's not what we're here for."

"Hmpf," Oro turned away, and Ketzel growled.

'Man, how does anything even get done if they're all down each other's throats like this?' Percuss was amazed. For a kingdom that had a seemingly flawless monarchy system, they sure did argue a lot.

"That's it!" In a flurry of anger, the gung-ho shark charged at his king. Oro turned around in a split second, sticking out his massive weapon. One of the spikes nearly touched his throat as he glared him down with cold, blue eyes. "Uh..." Ketzel gulped and froze in place immediately.

"Did you want something?" The Shark King asked coldly.

"How?" The shark could barely get the question out. He was petrified.

"You might be good at using a weapon, but that means nothing to me. I make my own weapons. I can craft weapons for entire armies, and I even made the specialized weapons that the Seventh Infantry use in battle. I also made Fish King Angla's scythe." Oro noted as Percuss looked at the intricate blade.

It showed beautiful craftsmanship. The blade was sharpened to perfection and engraved in both sides was the name of the one who owned it, "amazing."

"It doesn't take much talent to swing a sword, it does to forge them. You might be able to defeat people by being fast and all, but you aren't even in my league." When it came to class and rank, the Shark King was far superior to someone who had a little more finesse than a foot soldier, at least when it came to weaponry.

"What are you, biased?" Ketzel was a little offended by that. Oro's words made him feel small. He was talented; more so than a common grunt. He had what it took to be a high-ranking member of the shark army.

Lowering his weapon, Oro allowed his taught muscles to rest as he watched Ketzel carefully. "I never said anything about being the superior shark. If I thought you were so weak, I wouldn't have you in my army."

"I don't see the royal family fighting in this war," Ketzel lowered his sword and turned his back. They all sat in the castle and let everyone else defend them like cowards.

"That's their choice," Oro wondered if Ketzel even knew what it meant to be a soldier. It was their job to protect the monarchy who resided in the castle.

"This isn't even my fight," Ketzel's words were low and dark. "It's all the royal family's fault I'm here."

"Wait," Percuss paused, "you weren't born here?"

Turning immediately at the sound of the new voice, Ketzel glared the sword fish down. "Who are you?" His voice took on a serious and somewhat snobby edge.

"She's my friend," Angla stepped over beside of the sword fish.

"Yes," the assassin nodded, "that's what I am."

"She's the one who snuck into our meeting," Isatsu noted her shady behavior.

"I didn't tell her to stay out so it's kind of my fault," the angler fish took the responsibility for that action.

"Please forgive me," Percuss bowed to the Orca King, "I didn't mean to interrupt it on purpose." It was a lie, but it was a well-constructed and falsely sincere one.

Isatsu shrugged, "can't help it now. As long as you're on our side, I really don't care." If she wasn't, then he was going to rip her apart and feast on her carcass.

"If you don't mind me asking, why does this Accord guy hate Nautica so much?" The assassin was still trying to get a grasp on their current situation. While she was stuck with this rowdy bunch, she figured that she might as well learn something from them.

"No one really knows. He just wants to kill us all." Isatsu had no idea. He really just wanted to kill him. The fact that he was a shark made it all the more tempting.

"He's a radical religious type. He believes that by trying to have a closed civilization where we abide by a structured government is blindsiding the denizens of the sea. He believes that we dull the senses of our inhabitants by killing their primal instincts and natural ability to survive. To him, we're an evil that should be eradicated. He's blind." Oro knew exactly why Accord hated Nautica. Even with such little involvement in the war, he was aware of the enemy's motives. Accord wasn't going to stop until they were all dead and their citizens were forced to live back in the waters of the Deep Sea.

"We have just as much right to live the way we do as he lives the way he does," as far as the orca was concerned, he wasn't enslaving anyone. The denizens were free to do as they wished. Accord needed to accept that people had their own special ways of living life.

"There's no use in trying to preach to him, unless you want to get crucified," Oro struck a painful cord in the orca.

"Crucified?" Ketzel seemed confused.

"That's how he tortures people in Nautica," Oro educated them to Accord's cruel ways, "Those who are brainwashed and reliant."

"That's horrible," Angla looked sympathetic as the orca's form became crestfallen.

"They would only do it to predators like us that they thought were taking advantage of the weak." Oro's eyes shifted to the solemn-looking Orca King. "Right, Isatsu?"

"I don't want to talk about it," Isatsu turned away as a blast hit the side of the ship. It turned on its side, groaning and creaking with the force of the blow. The floor slanted, knocking everyone off balance as they slid to the side. "The ship's been hit!"

"What are we waiting for? Fire back before they blow us up!" Angla shouted from her position on the ground, commanding the massive canons on the ship. They all exposed themselves, from the top of the deck and inside of the hull and they took fire on the armies below.

"If you were all paying attention this wouldn't have happened," Oro looked a little irritated as he pulled himself to his feet.

"Thank you Colonel Hypocrisy!" Ketzel shouted from his position, lying on his stomach on the floor.

"I wish that blast would have rendered you unconscious," Isatsu growled as he pulled himself to his feet.

"Ugh, my back," Percuss groaned as she rubbed her afflicted backside and straightened her bent dorsal fin.

"Fire the Blast Canons!" Isatsu pointed towards the commander, who stood on deck and raised a hand. The canons fired a second time, making domes of yellow energy down below as the blood-curdling screams of soldiers sounded through the currents.

"We did it!" Ketzel jumped up, happy with the results, and Oro crossed his arms, turning away from him.

"It doesn't seem like they have any weapons up here. They're all attacking from below," Angla looked around, and he could see nothing at all in the area around him. He was certain that all of the weapons that Accord used were strictly down below. That gave them a huge advantage.

"Indeed," Oro agreed.

"I say we show them whose boss, since they want to fire on us," determination etched itself across his face as he ran to the tip of the ship, taking out his sword.

"What are you doing?" Isatsu looked irritated as usual. Everything the boisterous shark did rubbed him the wrong way.

"Now," Ketzel's smile was widened, revealing his shark teeth as he looked down at the small figures below," I'll show you my badass skills! Blazing Glory!" He called out the name of his attack as a bolt of lightning surged through the water, collecting itself in his sword. He then pointed the tip down as a typhoon of lightening formed. The winds swirled around violently as bolts of bright light struck into the armies below. They called out in pain and shock as they were assaulted and slaughtered. Soon, the typhoon lit up in white, like a dazzling light show that bathed the ship in a luminescent white.

"That's incredible," Percuss couldn't take her eyes off of the blackened crater that Ketzel's attack made. It was impressive and so big that several ships could fit inside of its radius.

"Well," Angla put a hand behind his head and winked, "you know, he's pretty strong."

"Take that, bitches!" Ketzel boasted loudly. "Hahahahaha! I'll do it again, too! Fire at me, will you? I'll make sure you regret it!" He held up his sword as laser beams flew past him, one of them barely missing his head. "Warg!" He shouted as he threw his hands over his head and jumped down, retreating to the lower level.

"Don't brag too much," the orca chastised him, "besides, why are you wasting your magic when we have canons?" It was idiotic to do such a thing when they had weapons. The use of magical powers was only supposed to be utilized when they were in one-on-one combat. What an idiotic shark.

The shark waived in dismissal, "canons, shmanons," closing his eyes, Ketzel was pretty proud of himself. "If you want to do a job right, then you gotta man handle it." Hopping down from one of the wooden steps, he swung his sword over his shoulder and walked to Percuss. "Sorry you had to see my bad side," he stuck his hand out with a friendly smile. "The name is Ketzel. Nice to meet you."

Percuss smiled and shook his hand, "I'm Percuss."

"Oh come on!" Ketzel placed his hands on his hips and learned forward with a look of playful suspicion. "That's not your name."

"Uh..." Percuss jolted in place. Her eyes widened as she felt like she'd be caught. The facade that she was trying to keep crumbled away like thin ice.

"I'm sure it's her code name. She's an assassin," Angla's words didn't help. Percuss felt the pressure again.

"I guess I could tell you all my name," now she had to reveal herself to them. 'Although I may be signing my death warrant.' There was nothing she could do about it now. The sword fish was backed into a corner by them, and if she didn't tell them her real name, they would grow suspicious again.

She couldn't have that.

"So, tell us," Ketzel pressed with his brilliant smile.

She took a deep breath, calming herself, "my name is Paris."

"Good," the shark smiled, "now that I'm all friendly-like with you. I want to know what got you in so good with the Sea Kings. They usually don't let people into their...circle."

"It's a long, weird story," the sword fish wasn't sure that he would even believe her if she told him the truth.

"We all sort of got shoved together," Angla paused, looking thoughtful, "in a weird predicament."

"It's still weird to me. Everything moved so fast, and now in this war-" Percuss was cut off.

"You don't have to complain about how bad you think you got it," the orca smirked. To hear them complain like they were was amusing. They didn't know what going through true hell even was.

"It's not that," Percuss looked to him, "I was really starting to like it here. It's different from what I thought it was, but I'm not used to this."

Unlike him, she had never been in a war, or a part of a place that was in war. Of course, he knew what it was like to lay his life on the line. If she remembered correctly, Isatsu was a great war hero. There was no telling how many had spilled their blood for him or were killed by those clawed hands. She imagined that he was a mighty warrior, or at least he talked a big game.

"In her defense," Ketzel stood by her side, "it's on you when you're an outsider. I've never been in a war, either. Sure, I lived here for a few years but she hasn't even done that. She's not like you guys." It was wrong of him to persecute her based on never being in a war before. Of course, she was entitled to complain, she never knew the life he had. Just because it wasn't that bad to him didn't mean it wasn't terrible to her.

"Well, if she wants to stick around, she'd better learn to be. No one's going to hold her hand," Isatsu thrusted his hand out as a series of lightning bolts showered the armies below striking them and killing them on sight. Their screams were music to his ears as well as the explosions of tanks that followed.

Percuss watched as the armies became smaller, and the canons set off another round of laser blasts. Explosions littered the around as warriors swam around or ran along the ground. Arrows were fired, as well as magical blasts, guns, catapults and lasers. She leaned on the railing of the ship.

Ketzel walked up beside of her, leaning over the edge as he glanced to the battle below, then to her face. "What kind of stuff do you do?"

Percuss looked to him in question. "What do you mean?"

"You're an assassin. What do you kill people with?" The shark didn't see a weapon on her, so he wondered what exactly she used to make her kills. If she was an assassin, then she needed an effective weapon, didn't she?

...To Be Continued