As little a surprise as it was, the building's inside offered plenty assurance that a pirate theme was the intention.

The first thing he noticed was the wall of scent that slammed into them. Their group was met with mixes of spiced-up aromas he never thought could possibly smell pleasant until now. They stung the inside of his nose for long enough to make his eyes water up; however, once adjusted to it, the backwards tanginess took that water from his eyes and got to work on his mouth.

It could hardly be called a restaurant; the place ran more like a dine-in marina. Hauls of freshly caught fish were being brought in by the cart-load, through what appeared to be an opening that lead out to the bay.

From where they stood at the main entrance, there was a straight path to a sort of reception desk. Past that, a path could be taken left, out to the first floor of dining areas, or right and up a flight of spiral stairs. There were even glass-floored areas of the main deck that gave a perfect view down into the water of the bay.

Of course, a certain thalassophobic Miscreant took great care in keeping his eyes off the floor for just that reason.

From the first ceiling, a mystifying arraw of ornaments hung and swayed in the restaurant's bustle. They took the form of nets, swaying anchors, the teeth of sea monsters, or any other trophy of the trade that gave more glory to the atmosphere.

Every table on the first floor was like that of a tavern: long ovals sitting up to ten at stool-style seats around it. The vast majority were all occupied, with the table's respective chefs performing works of culinary art for those in audience.

Even they were doing their due diligence in upholding their workplace's feel. Servers sported plunderers' apparel, studded in seafaring leather and shimmering jewelry from head to toe. The Miscreant's heart already held dear to open-air dining, but this blew that out of the water.

The young woman working reception seemed to compose herself at the sight of the trio. Solitaire offered a gentle wave before walking to the desk.

"A pleasure to see you as always, young Miss Albion. How may we acquaint you?"

The Princess gave a light sigh, looking back to Kyoya and Lyric.

"I understand the formality, but the character of this place is half the reason I come. You don't have to drop the act, at least not for the Albion family."

At that request, a determined glint surfaced in the receptionist's eyes. She swiftly revealed a toothy smirk and crossed her arms.

"Alright, then! What'll it be, girly? I don't suppose you three've got the guts to board the Galleon!"

Lyric piped up, driven as ever to be part of the gag. It garnered a poorly hidden laugh from her partner.

"You bet we do! Tell 'em, Ace!"

Doing her best to hold back laughter of her own, Solitaire followed.

"Yes, yes, we do. Is Levvy working today?"

Lyric shrunk back ever-so-slightly at the mention of this name. Her heels hitched the edge of a board beneath them; if not for that cue, he'd have completely missed it.

After pondering that question for a moment, the receptionist pardoned herself and looked around the desk for a small notepad. She put it back down and nodded after a brief review.

"She's on board today, seeing to the top deck. She's not workin' any tables at the moment—want me to give her a ring?"

"That'd be fine."

While she did that, Kyoya snuck a glance to Lyric, who seemed a bit too engrossed in the world around them to have noticed. With that having failed, he nudged her shoulder.

The Seraph snapped out of her shanty-induced trance, looking to him.

"Hm?"

"Levvy?" he questioned.

"Beats me. I've never really met-met the gal, but I know Ryder's a good friend of hers. Apparently they were partners in crime at one point... but, past that, we're in the same boat on this one," shrugged the Hope.

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

However, he wouldn't go without some idea of what incited her response to the mention of that name before.

"And, uh... You alright? It looked like you sorta—"

"It's nothing serious. Just worry about what you'll give as answers to Ace's questions."

That exchange was shut down far too swiftly to pursue. Kyoya nodded and dropped the thought wholesale.

"Right... I guess we're gonna have to leave it to Solitare to do the introducing."

As suggested by the dissolving of a magic circle, the receptionist had concluded her communications with this 'Levvy'. Solitaire was in process of exchanging the Chell for a ticket of some sort.

She looked back again.

"Are you two ready?"

Kyoya gave a thumbs up, with Lyric excitedly nodding away. "All right. Our table is on the third floor, so we'll be taking the stairs."

Without much else to be said, the trio took to ascending the rich mahogany staircase. It spiraled up two stories before emerging on the third floor, which overlooked both floors below it, almost like a loft.

This floor's atmosphere sung at a drastically shifted tempo compared to those beneath it. Not so much as a single customer occupied the space, robbing it of any hustle or bustle. It was quiet and calm, with only the distant chatter of diners below keeping it from being completely silent.

As with the level's spirit, the lights were also a tad dimmer, and the floor's space was considerably more confined. Overall, it rang him more like a night bar than any restaurant.

There were only a handful of tables on this level. All of them stood far smaller than those below, with a circle-shaped frame as opposed to long rectangles. A lone employee was tending to the centermost table.

Judging by appearance alone, Kyoya struggled to place her past the mark of 20 years old. She was of similar height to both him and Lyric—six feet tall at most, with deep, hazel skin and side-swept hair of a cyan hue. A simple white-cloth bandana was tied over the top of her head, which mingled swirling patterns of a similar color to her hair.

Her build was rugged, more tone than not—one that suggested her usual activities were more on the exciting side of the spectrum.

The getup she wore seemed almost too genuine to be simply workplace attire. One such piece was a tanned leather vest, adorned with threaded gold as stitching, miscellaneous animal teeth serving as decorative flair around the neckline. It was worn over an ivory cloth crop top that cut off several inches above her stomach.

Her pants were a brownish-crème cargo-jean hybrid that fed into knee-high boots made of off-black leather. Metal studs and string laces aligned themselves in place along the straps' ends. She also wore a pair of two-piece gloves, the first cutting off at her wrist, and the second reaching just past her forearm.

Though Kyoya couldn't get a look at her eyes, on account of her being turned away from them, he couldn't help feeling that even they would offer more to the persona of a plunderer.

The girl stood at the center table, delicately tending to several glasses with a washcloth. After the sound of Solitaire's greaves creaking on the wooden floor announced their presence, this new pirate edged a glance over her shoulder. Ghoulish yellow eyes leered back.

He felt Lyric flinch.

"And here I'd thought she was kidding, calling to tell me I had a visitor."

Levvy's voice was just as rugged as the frame she held up—expectedly scruffy and even more so unbothered. The Miscreant couldn't help but share in Lyric's sudden discomfort.

"I hope we aren't catching you at a bad time. My friends and I would like this table, if you're willing." Despite doing her best to be sincere, Kyoya could tell a certain something by now. Both from experience and from observation, requests from any member of the royal family must've been generally difficult to decline.

That said, it didn't seem that Levvy was quite so intent on accepting until taking notice of Lyric. She'd taken a sort of defensive position, a bit closer to Kyoya than normal.

"This is usually about the time I close up shop..." She sat the glass down and placed her rag in one of her pockets. "What're you thinkin' today?"

"If I were to come in asking for a glorified shift extension, I'd at least be considerate. Chef's choice."

"You drive a hard bargain... but you don't dine out unless it's to talk business.I'll probably be missing out on something juicy if I turn you down, huh?"

Solitaire simply gave her nothing but a smile.

Dismissing the gesture altogether, their host then turned her attention to the Seraph. "By that hairpin, I take it you're the friend Allison's always on about. Lyric, yeah?"

Moving out from behind her partner, the Seraph did her best to meet Levvy's eyes.

"Yep, that's me. I've, ah..." She took a moment to gather her thoughts. "...I've heard a lot. About you, I mean."

"Is that right? What would my old partner have to say about me, I wonder?" The Pirate turned away to pull out a few seats for them. She opened a compartment on the tabletop to reveal a fully-functioning grill.

"All good things, no doubt. The thick of it was that the both of you kinda rethought things after you guys... y'know, went off the deep end, and everything."

Levvy stopped moving and began to shudder, leaving Lyric to immediately retreat back behind Solitaire. However, that shudder soon revealed itself to be her attempt at suppressing a laughing fit, so the Seraph slowly moved back to comfortable territory.

"Off the deep end!? That's hysterical! Did you think that one up yourself?"

"Y-yeah, it wasn't anything special, I just made a water joke, is all—"

Lyric was clearly out of sorts, and he wasn't any better. If she couldn't put things together, Kyoya struggled to imagine that he'd even have a chance. Of course, this didn't stop him from wondering.

"Either way, that was a good one." Levvy took a deep breath and brought composure back about her. "I needed that today. C'mon, you lot. Sit down, already, I hate cooking when people are crowding around me."