Gareland sat in Boulliard’s office, temporarily subsuming control of it from him for the duration of her stay. On ‘her’ desk sat a large number of letters; business partners, her boss, personal acquaintances all filled her mind with their concerns, despite never reciprocating. Then came two knocks in quick succession; she felt like ignoring it and pretending she wasn’t there, but the knocks continued.

“Come in.” She said, exasperated at being interrupted so late at night.

“Hello, Ms. Gareland,” The offender, the man she learned yesterday was named Paracelsus, sat down ‘cross from her, pouring out a glass of wine each, “I just wanted to stop by.”

“And who said we’d become drinking buddies?” She drank regardless.

“Boulliard suggested it, actually.” He sipped, it was sweet, “He said this was your favorite.”

She grimaced at that, “I guess he does have his selling points. Now, get to the point.” She rolled her empty hand to press him.

“I beg your pardon?” He tried to feign ignorance.

“I know you aren’t here to befriend me.” He looked ready to speak up, “Don’t try to fool me.”

“Alright then,” He poured her more wine, as a servant might, “I apologize for being so transparent. I actually come here with a business proposition.”

“And what sort of proposition is that?”

“One in which you, I, and Boulliard, all benefit.” He stated confidently, although she seemed thoroughly unimpressed.

“Thank you for the wine,” She snapped her fingers and two guards entered the room, “But please get out of my office.”

Paracelsus was drinking his own liquor, dejected. He sighed and put his hand in his face. He wasn’t sure why, but he was incredibly bothered by not helping Boulliard. This was a man he’d known for nearly twelve years. He groaned, both from his care of his friend and his own annoyance at his care of his friend. You see, Paracelsus was a man who very much so thought he was above the emotions most feel. He was so deep in his musing he didn’t notice someone knocking at his door.

‘

“What are you moping about?” Serpacinno took the bottle from his hand, also apparently having taken the liberty of letting herself in.

“Perhaps you can help me solve a conundrum.” He turned to look at her, “I know that if I can get through to Gareland, I can make our mission so much easier.”

“And she told you off?” He nodded, “Do you know why?”

“No. She didn’t even hear my request out.”

“I could think of a few ways to make her listen.” She said, as though it were exceedingly obvious.

It seemed Paracelsus caught on, “I think it would be best to do it without hurting her.”

“I meant,” He was apparently wrong, “That we prove ourselves to her.”

“And how do you propose we do that?”

While Serpacinno didn’t have the answer yet, a cold wind told her it would arrive soon.

Graave was now bowing his head to his superior, who was sat at her own desk. He had been especially cautious to remain respectful, as the word he’d heard about her more than any other was ‘hardass’.

“So, you want me to release the use of fifty troops to capture two pirates whom your deputy believes to be revolutionaries. Is that correct?” Commander Wulluyo asked.

“I know it sounds ridiculous, ma’am,” He lifted his eyes, “But if Peeares says so, I trust his intuition.”

“I don’t. But, if you believe so strongly in him, I’ll allow you to commit your own troops to it. Don’t expect any aid. We’re stretched thin as is.” The bearman seemed ready to offer words of gratitude, “You’re dismissed, Lieutenant.”

“How’d it go, sir?” Peeares said, waiting outside the Commander’s office. Graave looked at him with a mixture of joy and discontent, “Good, then?”

“You were right. Asking for troops distracted her mind from the matter of permission.”

“So how are we going to find them?”

“They had to get supplies. We’ll start by interviewing the merchants. Have the men filled in on their descriptions.”

Peeares saluted in response, “Aye, sir.”

It was now around four PM on the third day of the pirates’ stay. Paracelsus was machinating by hand only, for his mind was still preoccupied with helping his friend. Relatedly, he hadn’t seen him all day and wondered where he was. Serpacinno meanwhile was taking a stroll and presently returned to the casino. She opened the door to the vestibule and upon seeing a group of marines, closed it and sought another entrance.

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Unbeknownst to those two, Boulliard, along with Gareland, were sat in his office. Across from them sat Graave and Peeares, who had entered through a window. The proprietor of the casino fiddled with his hands awkwardly, as no one was saying anything. In fact, they had been instructed not to, as the two marines wanted to prevent them from somehow cluing anyone in on their plan to catch the criminals they believe were being harbored here.

“And you’re sure those two will return here?” Grave broke the silence, and Gareland turned to Boulliard for the answer.

“Yes sir, I saw him leave early in the morning for his daily run.” This was a lie, “He’s usually back before now.”

In truth, Boulliard was simply buying time. For what exactly, he didn’t know; he decided, however, that his friend, and his friend’s friend, would not suffer on his account. Gareland, however, was ignorant of this and fell for his lie as did the marines. It was then that the group heard a knock on the door, and Boulliard silently prayed it was not his who he thought it was.

“Come in,” Boulliard said, reluctantly, and Paracelsus stepped in.

“Am I interrupting something?” He asked in response. He saw the two marines sitting across from his friend and future-friend whispering to each other, he realized the cat was out of the bag. “Boulliard, did you set me up?” He wanted to give Boulliard a way out, knowing that he was too loyal to truly betray him.

“Paracelsus von Hohenheim, you’re under arrest.” Graava said, producing some rope, as though he expected the criminal to simply give himself up.

And give himself up he did, much to the shock of all four of the people in the room, save the Lieutenant himself. At his signal, his subordinate revealed a set of white wings and walked over to Paracelsus before grabbing him by the waist. At this, Paracelsus felt weightless - in the literal sense. As Graave stayed in the office, presumably to ask about his partner, Paracelsus was led outside and towards the docks.

On his way there, however, he was led around the back of the building, where he locked eyes with his aforementioned partner. He was about to make a motion to signal that he knew what he was doing, but he was too late; she had already drawn a new sword from her pouch, more fit for a knight from the highlands than a sailor. She swung the large sword downwards, and the carve in the ground told onlookers that Peeares would’ve been cleaved in two if not for him flying out of the way.

“I take it you’re his partner, then?” Peeares asked, hovering about a dozen yards above the ground.

“How’d you get caught so easily?” Serpacinno asked, ignoring the question.

“Well,” Paracelsus said, the ropes falling from his wrist, which combined with something he had concealed in his jacket before they formed a hook which he threw at the building to gain some leverage over his captor, “I was planning on going to their ship.”

He pulled and pulled, but Peeares wings allowed him more strength, so Paracelsus was dropped unceremoniously. He once more changed the hook's form, making it into a small sword that he stabbed into the side of the building to slow his descent.

“Well, what are you planning now?” Serpacinno asked, parrying a diving attack from Peeares.

Paracelsus saw a small group of marines escorting Boulliard in ropes and wondered why he was being arrested. He quickly regained himself and as he prepared a musket and aimed it towards their skybound attacker, Gareland appeared right in front of him, panic wrought on her face.

“Damnit, I almost shot you!” He said, lowering his musket.

“I’m sorry,” She brushed her clothes to appear professional, which was rather hard when you’re smaller than four feet, “But they attempted to arrest me and Boulliard.”

“I saw that,” Paracelsus kept his eyes focused on the battle between Serpacinno and the marine, “But why?”

“For ‘harboring criminals’.” She put finger quotes around the last part, as though she disagreed factually, which was rather hard, given the circumstances.

Paracelsus saw an opportunity, “If we help you out with this problem, will you hear me out? Aboard my ship, I mean.”

She groaned in thought, “Alright.”

With a renewed sense of purpose, Paracelsus pointed at Boulliard, “Then go deal with that situation, I’ll take the bearman down.” He turned to Serpacinno, “Sound good?” He shouted.

In response, she gave a thumbs up. At the same time, Grave himself stepped out of the casino and rounded the corner, having heard the commotion. With a pat on the back to send her on her way, Gareland blinked away and Paracelsus readied himself, musket in hand, to confront the marine.

“I apologize,” Graave’s eyes took on a garish blue glow, “It seems I underestimated you. Allow me to correct that.”

He charged in, and had Paracelsus blinked, he would’ve missed it. He just barely sidestepped his attempt to tackle him and was wholly caught off guard when one of his paws came to slash him. Because of his lack of preparedness, he was clipped by it and a grisly wound formed on his stomach.

“Alright then.” Paracelsus spat and took aim, his musket was different to most, not in design, but in shot. As it collided with his adversary, who had attempted to block it with his thick hide, it exploded and left a mark on him, “Oh, you’re a tough bastard.”

Graave sucked his teeth and rubbed his affected arm, “And you think yourself clever enough to beat me?” With that, he once again used his physical prowess to close the distance, and delivered a devastating blow to Paracelsus’ face.

The annoying thing about being so clever is that you realize just how fucked you are, was the general sentiment going through Paracelsus’ mind as he stood up shakily. The only hope he would have in winning this fight would be through slowly whittling down his opponent, and he could only do that by gaining some distance that wasn’t immediately negated.

Serpacinno was having difficulty herself. The annoying bastard was flying around too much, and her proclivity towards melee had ensured he was always out of her range, save for when he decided to strike. Another factor against her was that he had a pistol and enough shot to last him a while. He wouldn't fire at her while there were still panicking civilians around, but their numbers were ever dwindling.

“You scared?” She taunted between breaths, in hope to agitate him to give her a fair fight.

“I’ll admit I’m cautious of you,” The man, who Serpacinno now thought looked somewhat angelic, said, “But I don’t think afraid is exactly the correct term.”

She realized now that the only civilians still about were nowhere near her, and Peeare’s realized the same thing. He took aim and fired a shot she narrowly blocked with her claymore. It was then she formulated a plan and sought to put it into motion. She placed her claymore back within her own space and drew from a shield, along with a small length of rope which she secretly tied around her wrist.

When it became apparent that Peeare’s attempts at firing on her from range would be forever frustrated, he reverted to his old tactic and dived at her. In the instant he was near her, she wrapped the other end of rope around and tied the two of them together.

“Oh?” Peeares said, realizing he couldn’t fly away, “Nice move.” It turned out to backfire though, as he was stronger than he looked and pulled her towards him.

She blocked his blow with the shield, “Let’s finish this, then.”