"All of them?! He killed all of them?!"

Dagget raved as he paced, furiously in the study of his stately manor. Roman Dagget was a wealthy sugar and silk merchant from Valyria. He had made a fortune selling merchandise acquired for only the most elite of clients. The manner in which he stays ahead of his competition is through the tactical application of skilled individuals who are not weighed down by petty restrains like morality, fear and concern for international law.

"I sent him to steal a shipment of Anansai silks and I tell him to do it quietly! That he's not to shed blood and if he even smells a whiff of navy he is to run, that I didn't want this coming back to me. So what does he do?! He runs afoul of navy and decides to sack the damn vessel and kill everyone aboard as well as all the sailors on the Anansai ship! If I sell an ounce of that cargo they'll know I had something to do with the theft and murders! I'll be finished! What was he thinking?! Is he mad?!"

Dagget was fuming, he roared at the top of his lungs in rage as he clenched his fists. His man servant swallowed hard nervously as the wealthy aristocrat vented. Dagget was not unaccustomed to beating his servants when he was struck with a foul mood. He was certainly in a foul mood today.

"I don't know, sir."

"Oh that's a surprise! Where is Bane?"

"I told him it was urgent."

The manservant began before Dagget turned from him in frustration.

"Oh where is that man?"

"Speak of the devil, and He shall appear..."

Bane's voice rolled out from the back of the room like the song of a demon. Dagget turned to see Captain Dominic Bane saunter into the room. He wore a cool, confident smirk. His icy blue eyes fell on Dagget and seemed amused at his ire. At his side was the ever watchful and deadly Mary Snow with her dire wolf companion lurking behind them. The wolf's golden eyes stared at Dagget hungrily.

"What the hell is going on?..."

Dagget snarled angrily as he stomped over to the pirate captain.

"Your silks have been delivered to your warehouse and payment is being brought to my ship as we discussed."

Bane replied.

"Oh no, no, no no. This is not as we discussed. I told you I wanted this done discreetly. You hear that and decide that means slaughter everyone on not only the merchant vessel, but a naval vessel as well? How exactly do you expect me to sell any of my merchandise? If I try to offload a single scarf of silk everyone will know it came from the shipment that was just hijacked at sea!"

Dagget barked in Bane face but the Captain seemed ill unnerved. He casually puffed on his cigar, and blew the smoke in the smaller mans face causing him to cough.

"Didn't kill everyone. Left a few alive. To spread the legend and what not."

Dagget couldn't believe the arrogance and blatant stupidity of the sea filth in his home.

"Oh so you purposefully are trying fuck me then?! I cannot believe anyone can be this brain dead to purposefully leave witnesses."

Bane narrowed his gaze on the small nobleman who'd just insulted him. He stepped forward, looming over Dagget like a wrathful god. His eyes flicked up to the manservant on the other side of the room.

"Take a walk, mate."

He warned.

"No. Stay here. I'm in charge."

Dagget said though his voice shook somewhat as Dominic Bane loomed over him. Dom put a hand on the man's thin shoulder silently letting the man know how close he was to death.

"Do you feel in charge?..."

He asked, looking down at Dagget with a dangerous glint in his eye. The manservant took his leave wisely. Dagget turned his head slowly, fear beginning to finally infect his veil of anger that had blinded him thus far.

"I paid you a small fortune. Outfitting your ship for the journey, arming it with the twelve pound cannons you requested."

Dagget said nervously as he struggled to maintain eye contact.

"And you own me know, is that it? Your money and resources have been important... till now that is."

The Blue Eyed Devil smiled and in that moment Roman Dagget knew he wasn't long for this world. He had one last hope to cling to, one last desperate life line to clutch for.

"The Blue Suns will never let you kill me."

That one struck pay dirt with the fearsome Captain but not in the way Dagget would have liked. Bane's hand seized his throat and squeezed, Dagget tried to scream out but the hand at his throat stole his voice.

"They ain't here to save you. No one can save you from me."

Dagget clutched at Bane's hand feebly but frantically. Not one to deny a man his last words Bane loosened his grip enough for Dagget to croak out his peace.

"Y-your rule... Y-You don't kill people you w-work for."

Bane grinned viciously, that devilish smile that promised death. He gripped Dagget neck tighter before he put his other hand on his head, near the brow.

"Aye, but I don't work for you anymore, do I? You just paid me, remember?"

Dagget's eyes went wide in terror before Bane snapped his neck. The body dropped to the floor and Bane calmly put his cigar back into his mouth and puffed. He turned to look at Mary who watched him through his cloud of cigar smoke. He could see her dark grin, she always liked his violence.

"He's right you know. The Suns wont like this."

She said, her voice low and guarded, little over a whisper as always. Bane shrugged and made for the exit.

"Fuck the Sun's. They want me dead already, what are they gunna do? Kill me twice?"

Moving through the crowd like a phantom, Alexandrine stalked her prey. A so called magic man by the name Goldfinch. He greeted every passerby, as she followed a few paces behind him. She liked Nassau, it was a place where asking too many questions ended with a knife in the gut. Perfect for a disgraced warrior like her, framed for a massacre she did not comment. Keres...they called her now, portent of doom, death and destruction.

However that was not the case, she was a warrior, a wife...a mother, her world ripped from her by the bloody hands of one known only as Bluebeard. A myth, a legend, said to live but one victim alive to spin his bloody yarn and at the very same time, take the fall, marked with his curse.

Most have faced Bluebeard, and was brought to trail and excuted, some just excuted, luckily, Alexandrine was skilled enough of her home to escape before she met that fate.

Not that it mattered, she wanted to die, and wanted to be with her husband, Bluebeard's original fall man, who'd sacrificed himself to protect her. He was meant to live, not her.

She wanted to just close her eyes, forget the world and melt away but she couldn't. She was a mother, a mother to whose child was taken by the very man that slaughtered her village, if you could call him a man at all.

"Clea..."


Alexandrine steeled herself to what was next.

Goldfinch rounded the corner, dipping into an alley behind a brothel. Alexandrine followed. The alley empty save for Goldfinch.

"Perfect"

She rose her cloak, dropping the hood over her head, and unsheathing a dagger. One awarded to her when she made Commander.

She moved forward, reaching out and snatching Goldfinch by the collar, and hemming him against the wall in second.

"Tell me, Magic Man. You know of Bluebeard?" She asked, her dagger's tip pressed in the flesh between his fourth and fifth rib.

Goldfinch's eyes widened. "W-what? I don't know you are but Bluebeard...he's a myth?"

"You and I both know he is not a myth, You are of magic, tell me where he is!" She pressed her forearm against his throat, Goldfinch choked. "I-I, I'm not magic..." He relented with a gasp. "I make quick cash with palor tricks, I'm not a real magic man." He said quickly.

Alexandrine growled. "You have potions! Remedies! I saw them."

"All Lies, They are just some herbs I collected, I swear, I've got kids!" He pleaded pitifully.

Alexandrine huffed and let him go. A snarl twitching her lip. Goldfinch then rushed her against the wall and tried to run but Alexandrine recovered and snatched him backward.


Rage bubbling up inside her, her vision tinted red, as her grip on her dagger tightened. She shoved her dagger deep into his gut, over and over, until blood gushed over her hand. Goldfinch's gurgled up blood before life left him completely.


Alexandrine stood there, her eyes wide and manic, her breathing erratic as a few men heard the commotion, and soon her attention was on them, her dagger send ribbons of red spinning through the air.

Not too long, She stood in a pile of bodies, pirates by the looks of them, her arm covered in blood, dripping down from the tip of her dagger.

Her rage calmed and sanity came back to her, as well as guilt.

Goldflinch may have been a liar but he could have had childern, whose to say? It didn't matter now...he was dead and she was no further in finding Bluebeard then she first started.


Alexandrine quickly exited the scene, and was off to find herself a place to clean, when she bumped into a tiny girl, no older then 15 with a young dark skinned fellow not much older then herself.

"Sorry." She said quickly but her hand was caught, by the girl.

"Find the blood in the snow." said the girl, and Alexandrine looked at her, oddly,,the girl was unphased by the blood that now covered her hand. "Then we will meet again." She said, her large eyes seeming to reach into her soul. The girl then released her arm and Alexandrine took off.

"Blood in the Snow?" Alexandrine thought. Snow didn't happen in Nassau...and who was that girl...?

Nassau was home to deviants of all walks of life. Thieves and beggars, scoundrels and vagabonds but none ruled the city more than the sea fairing, fearless marauders of the waves that were a pirate crew. Pirates from countless ships called the island home. There were the bloody sort, them who'd kill you as soon as look your way. Then there were the gentleman sort, more polite than your average ruffian but no less deadly. There were your sirens, female crews who used their looks to lure you in before burying a knife in your belly. There were the bone eaters who spoke not a lick of common but could tow a line and wield a blade sure enough. Then there was the legends. Folks like Captain Bane and his crew of the Anamaria. The ones with a reputation and a name and would kill to protect both.

Captain Bane sat in a bath house not spitting distance from the docks where only the toughest or most experienced captains hung their hat. He had himself a girl on either arm and was causally puffing away on a cigar while his murderous counterpart sat on the other end of the table sipping a bit of mead with juniper berries and petting her fearsome dire wolf at her feet. Bane chuckled as one of the whore nuzzled into his neck, tasting his skin with her lips as she whispered what joys were in store for him later this evening. Bloody Mary just shook her head in disgust.

"We're not gunna be able to side step em long."

She grunted as she sipped her mead. Bane arched an eyebrow and looked at her from between the two women on his lap.

"We don't need to. Just need to side step em long enough, savy?"

"You're gambling with our lives Dom. I'm not too keen on you having of dices with my ass as the wager."

She growled. Bane grunted and leaned forward, pushing one of the whores out of his line of sight. She pouted but got up to begin rubbing his back.

"Aye you're right. How fool I am. You got a fortune tucked away somewheres I can pay The Suns back with? No? How bout a treasure galley, lightly armored we can sack for a quick buck? No again eh?"

Bane sat back with a sigh of frustration.

"I'm not too keen on our odds either Snow but till the wind blows something my way I can use there ain't shit for it. No use fretting over a crack in the hull till we start taking on water."

Mary grumbled under her breath but went back to her drink.

"Just hope we don't drown while we wait for the wind..."

Kalila had just finished cleaning her hands after meeting with the rouge woman. She didn't like blood, too many thoughts, too much pain.

"Find her,"

"Help her."
The voices repeated in her head and a vision of a tavern flashed in her mind, as well as two pair of piercing blue eyes as she walked toward the large window of an Inn.

Kalila stood there, staring into nothingness, or that's what it seemed to most but she was listening.

Her hearing excedded far from normal standards but this girl was not the normal girl either.


She stood, wind whipping her old thin dress around her tiny legs.

"Just hope we don't drown while we wait for the wind..."

A thin smile crept on to Kalila's face as she suddenly lept from the open window, giving her poor guardian and best friend a heart attack in the process.

Her fall was broken by a overheard tarp,in which she bounced off of and landed safetly on her barefeet. She then ran off, maneuvering through the throngs of people with an inexplicable amount of grace, as if she knew exactly where they'd come and go. She made her way inside of the tarven were she spotted a large wolf.

She recognized the wolf and the woman she belonged to, she spoke not a word to the woman as she approached the large wolf, who damned near dwarfed her in size, and could rip her in two.

Kalila stood right in front of the wolf, and bent down, a full ninety degrees and kissed the wolf right on her nose.

In that same moment, the rogue entered the tavern and sat at the bar. Kalila grinned, feeling her eyes on her, hearing the thoughts of the rogue woman as she spotted her with the wolf.

"Who's that, the woman with the wolf?" She heard the rogue ask.

"That there be Bloody Mary Snow, First mate to Captain Bane of the Anamaria. Tread carefully stranger, that ain't someone who's keen on making friends." said the bar keep. The rogue woman looked at her and seemed to be waiting for the right moment to approach. Kalila could hear her thoughts loud and clear.

"Blood in the snow..."

Kalila grinned as the rogue woman thought and Kalila looked back at the large maneater dire wolf began petting her gently, focusing her attention to her owner and her owner's friend.

When he was younger, Theodosos never imagined that he would be in a place like this. The taverns of Nassau were filled to the brim with thieves, whores, and scoundrels of every shape and size. The type of scoundrel that held sway here was, of course, the pirates. Pirates were scum in the eyes of the world. A convicted one was hung quickly if he or she was lucky. If they were not ready, they suffered longer punishments, though, no punishment could compare to his.

"Hello, lover. You seem down," a sweat voice whispered in his ear. Theo was not surprised to see a beautiful figure sit across from him. She was dressed provocatively and wouldn't have looked out of place here among the whores save for the aura of power he could feel coming off her in waves. He nursed his pint. Once, he might have thrown it at her, but he knew it was no use. He could not harm a goddess.

"Your curse does have that effect, Lila," he said dryly. She laughed lightly. In all fairness, she should have attracted unwelcome attention by now, but none could see her. None but him. He stared in his pint. Was there a true God? Lila had taught him that the gods of his people much too petty to be divine. Once, such a question might have interested him, but now, he was beyond caring.

"I wouldn't call it a curse so much as a game. You are so interesting, Theo. I like interesting."

"That is not all that you like about me. How did it feel to be rejected?" he asked with a light smile. The goddess frowned at him.

"How does it feel to lose so many friends? Honestly, with mortals so short-lived and us gods immortal, I am unfamiliar with the loss humans experience. Losing a mortal to death... It's like losing a pet. There are plenty more."

"Captain Black Bart was a good man, Lila. He did not deserve to die. You will pay. Maybe not by my hand, but you will pay. Now leave, whore!" he snarled, thrusting forward with his fingers to cause a bolt of lightning to spring out of them at her. But, like so many times before, she simply vanished, leaving a smoking chair behind.

"You are mine, pet. You could have experienced pleasure far beyond a mortal's wildest imagination. Now, you are reduced to this. Be careful, that little display attracts a lot of attention in places like this.

Theo finished his drink, nonplussed. He laughed wildly and stood up.

"I still live! Now, a round of drinks on me!!!!" he cried, much to the delight of the onlookers he attracted. He made a pile of coins on the table.

"To Black Bart!" he whispered as he was brought another pint.

Jarrak Hassar walked through the shithole of a port town with less than a amused vasard. He hadnt been on the island a day and already had lost his ward, "Damn it Kalila," he mumbled under his breath as he walked down another winding alley, "Why do you do this to me?"
Some guardian he was. Protector of a damn princess, a prophesied reincarnation of Ishka, and still his biggest problem was merely keeping the mad girl in his sights. He hoped against hope, that word never reached her father's ears about how lax his skills at protection had gotten. He was used to chasing Kalila around a palace, not a slum. A beggar stepped out in front of him, hand proffered, mumbling something about coins for an old man, Jarrak had no time for it and a solid knee to the gut sent the beggar doubling over in the dirt.
"Filth." He said under his breath as he continued to walk through the stinking town, "Filth and foul, why on earth have we come here?"

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Lady Elizabeth Benezia Harlington sat in her on the terrace of her estate looking over the sapphire blue waters off the coast of Nassau. On a small table beside her sat a china cup of inky black tea, and above her an umbrella, keeping the harshest of the suns rays from her, even if she was fully covered, from her long gloves to halterneck dress and face mask. She stared out over the stunning vista view, she had lived here nearly twenty years but she never tired of that view. She lifted her tea cup to her face and took a careful measured sip. She had her masks fitted and specially designed so that she could still enjoy tea while she wore them, but it was still a delicate art to avoid covering herself in the dark liquid. An art she had perfected over the years.
"More tea ma'am?" said a deep voice from behind her, and Marcus Bolo, her infallible butler and manservant materialised from where he had been standing.
"No thank you Marcus I am quite alright," she said, her voice melodic and light, but with a hint of the deadly intelligence she had acquired over the years, "What time was our appointment in town?"
She knew perfectly well what time their appointment with the Pirate was, she knew Marcus knew too. The man never missed a beat, but she asked anyway, some part of the daily facade they played with each other.
"Noon Ma'am," Marcus replied without batting an eyelid, "Just under two hours."
"Of course," she replied lightly, her demeanor as unreadable as usual, "How silly of me. Come, fetch Nassara and bring the carriage around the front. I must go and fetch my things."
"Of course lady Harlington," Marcus said with a bow, "At once."