Xavier led the girl down to the dock where his boat was located. Cannonball and Marius had nearly lost their heads when Xavier had agreed to take the girl to Kingston.

The job seemed simple enough, Xavier had run the route at least a hundred times and he had a plan that would ensure his safety all the way. Plus, if the girl really paid whatever Xavier wanted he could make a nice chunk of change.

Xavier stopped at his boat which was now unloaded and waved to the two dock workers. "Thanks for your help lads! I'm taking the ole skimmer out again but hopefully, I'll see you both around."

Xavier hoped onto his ship and started setting up the sails while his cargo stood awkwardly on the dock. "You going to get on or what?" He asked the girl.

She broke from her trance and stepped onto the boat. "So Mr. Pirate, you got a name?" She asked.

Xavier rolled his eyes. "Around these parts, I'm known as the Ice Pirate. Though given your lifestyle I imagine you've never heard of me." His snide comment got the girl to huff so he added. "My name is Xavier. Happy?"

The girl immediately perked up. "Very! I'm Rose!" She held out her hand for a handshake and Xavier had to force himself not to laugh.

"Look lass, I know this is different from the castle you grew up in but we don't do all the formalities here," Xavier informed her and he unfurled the sail.

The boat started to speed out across the bay and towards the open ocean. Saltwater sprayed onto the passenger's faces as the ship continued to build up speed.

The waves were calm enough that once Xavier's skimmer got out onto the ocean it could navigate relatively smoothly without his constant attention.

The pirate tightened some knots and looked back at his cargo. "We'll arrive sometime at the next daybreak if this wind keeps up."

"So what's your plan?" Rose asked him. Xavier raised an eyebrow. "Your plan to not get caught when we reach Kingston."

Xavier put his pointer and middle fingers together and pointed them straight up into the sky. Ice started to fly from them for a moment before Xavier stopped the spell. "That answer your question?"

Rose shook her head and the captain nearly face-palmed. "I'll freeze the water once we get close to shore and have you walk off to your destination. If you're really nobility like you say I'm sure you can explain it all away. Then in two days, I come back and you give me additional compensation."

Rose seemed to want to protest but she stopped herself. "Seems like you've got it all figured out. But what if I don't come back? Or betray you when you come back?"

Xavier chuckled. "I assure you lass, you may not recognize the flag I fly but your father and his friends will. Messing with me is a bad idea."
Xavier gestured to the piece of cloth flying from the ship's mast.

The flag depicted Xavier's signature Gunsword and an iceberg signifying the pirate's two signature traits.

Rose tilted her head. "You look a bit young to be a feared pirate captain. What's your deal?"

Normally, Xavier would ignore questions he was asked but there was nothing secret about his origins nor did he want to miss the chance to brag to nobility.

"I grew up on Centrixia before Kingston gave it to the Scalliers. At around age 12, I had the opportunity to join a pirate crew as a mage in training and I took the offer. I worked hard every day and in return when the captain of my ship died I was put in command and able to run things myself. That was five years ago and during that time I made many friends and pulled off enough pirate campaigns for my name to be feared by common folk."

Rose crossed her arms. "That's really impressive, but I don't know why you're acting like I'm some sort of sheltered princess. How do you think I ended up in a pirate cove in need of a ride home?"

Xavier shrugged. "Don't care. That's your business, not mine."

Rose sighed. "Well for what it's worth, I haven't lived in Kingston for the last ten years of my life. I've been away at an academy learning how to use my magic."

Xavier raised an eyebrow. "Interesting. Ten years must mean you're pretty much a master at fire magic?"

"Sure am," Rose affirmed. "I know ice spells are easy and all but you wouldn't stand a chance against me either way."

"Easy? Says who?" Xavier asked jokingly.

Rose chuckled and prodded him with her staff. "Well, where's your ice magic staff? Oh, that's right you can just conjure it from your hands."

Xavier let himself laugh a bit. The fun died down but Xavier felt compelled to make conversation. "So how'd you end up in the Azure Cove? The academy too cheap to get you a ship home?"

Rose rolled her eyes but instead of laughing, she sighed. "Not exactly... the academy was attacked and destroyed by these strange creatures. The worst part is they chased me down afterward so they only did it because of me. I managed to escape but no ship at the local port would take me to any Kingston territory since they're allied with the Scalliers. Best I could do was get a ship to the pirate cove."

Xavier's mind was stuck on when she mentioned she was attacked. "Are you really that important to the nobility that some mages would chase you down all the way up north and blow up an entire building?"

Rose shook her head. "They weren't mages. I can describe it but they were these strange creatures made of... mist I think? Either way I have no clue what they wanted with me. I'm not very special at all."

Xavier wanted to call her out for lying, she was terrible at it and he could immediately tell Rose wasn't being truthful but he didn't care that much. This was just a simple job he needed to take care of.

The sun set below the horizon and clouds started to move in as they got further out onto the open sea. Xavier did his best to push away any potential ice chunks in their path as they sailed blindly while Rose wrapped a blanket around herself.

Xavier buttoned up his coat and tried his best to shield his eyes from any of the ice-cold water that splashed on board. While his cold tolerance was higher than most, Xavier was in no way immune to freezing temperatures.

"We should be there by the time this night is over," Xavier told Rose. "If I were you, I'd get some sleep since it's nothing but open ocean from here."

Rose was about to protest when the wind suddenly died down and the boat began to glide across the water to a stop. Xavier stared up at the sail and groaned.

"Ugh, you've gotta be kidding me!" He looked around and tried to think of a way to get the ship moving again. It was completely unlike the archipelago for the winds to completely stop. This made no sense.

Rose suddenly threw her blanket off and clutched her staff in her hand. "Xavier, we've got company!"

The pirate looked up at the sky where there seemed to be some sort of black figure. The moon was mostly covered by clouds so it was impossible to make out many details other than a distinctly misty texture to the figure.

Xavier looked to Rose and without saying a word she nodded to him. The captain unholstered his weapon and pointed it at his foe as it descended onto the skimmer.

"I'm going to give you to the count of three before I fire! You're messing with the wrong ship so get out of here!" Xavier put one finger on the trigger and aimed the barrel at his target. "One! Two!" The figure didn't react. "Three!"

The pirate fired his gun and the bullet hit its mark right in the chest. The shadowy figure still didn't react. "Xavier, that's not going to work!" Rose said to him.

The captain stepped in front of her. "This is my ship, let me handle this." Xavier charged at the creature and swung the sharp bottom of his weapon at the foe.

Xavier's blade was suddenly stopped by a golden staff that had appeared from under the cloak. The figure pushed him back and began to laugh. "Roseanne, must you drag an innocent pirate into our conflict? Ah well. I need to warm up anyway."

Xavier paid no mind to what the intruder was saying and instead blasted him with ice. The staff created a barrier that blocked his attack and the monster vanished.

The ice mage looked up to see the dark creature in the sky yet again. It fired several black balls from its staff that flew down at Xavier.

The pirate shot the first few which dissipated them and then sent out a wave of ice magic that obliterated the final one.

The opponent had vanished again and this time reappeared right in front of Xavier, trying to bash him with the staff.

The captain swung his sword to block the move and the mage dissipated again. It reappeared right behind Xavier but he once again parried the strike.

The exact same thing happened again so Xavier anticipated where the mage would reappear and swung his sword in that direction. His guess paid off and he landed a strike on the target.

The ice caster wasted no time blasting freezing cold magic into the face of the attacker as it screamed in pain.

Xavier ran to continue keeping up the pressure and slammed his shoulder into the creature. The pirate was dumbfounded to find that his opponent felt both like it was solid and made of mist.

Either way, the enemy went flying off the ship and Xavier made a fist with his hand. A column of ice erupted from the water and knocked Xavier's opponent into the sky.

The captain opened his hand and created a giant ramp made of ice that he jumped onto. He fired several shots into the target to keep it in place and then shot up the ramp.

Xavier found himself heading right for his opponent so he put his sword in front of himself and prepared to finish this.

Just as he was about to make contact, the pirate noticed the ghoul's eyes open and him swing his staff into Xavier's back.

Xavier was swatted out of the air and crashed onto the boat. The pain was unbearable and Xavier was pretty sure he had broken a rib.

"Xavier! No!" Rose screamed and she began to send healing energy into his body.

Xavier grinned. "You're a healer too? Guess that academy was useful." The pain started to numb but before it could really heal him, the magic stopped.

The wounded pirate turned himself over to see what was happening and found a giant pillar of fire shooting from Rose's staff to stop an attack from the opponent mage.

"Roseanne, you surely aren't going to just use fire magic?" The creature taunted. Its voice was grating and was starting to give Xavier a headache. "He'll be dead either way! No use in hiding your secret!"

Rose sighed and charged up an attack that was significantly brighter than any fire magic the pirate had ever seen. Then he realized, it wasn't fire magic.

A beam of light arced through the sky at the mysterious attacker who barely dodged it. Rose is a Light Mage? That must be why these freaks want her so bad! Light Mages were incredibly rare and incredibly powerful, it all made sense now.

Xavier forced himself to sit up as the battle raged on. Rose seemed to have the upper hand in the battle but the monster never tried challenging her magic head-on, instead, it darted around her until it could get a clean hit.

And the clean hit packed a punch. Rose was flung across the boat and had to scramble to her feet to dodge another attack. It was going to be over for her if Xavier didn't do something.

The captain took a deep breath and sharply exhaled as he got to his feet. The shadow mage cornered Rose on the boat and raised his staff to strike her while she looked too worn down to do anything.

I'll never reach her in time! I have to do something! Xavier reached out a hand in vain and realized what he could do. He made a fist and a giant spike made of ice burst from the bottom of the boat and impaled their attacker.

"Rose! We need to get out of here! This ship is going to sink and that won't hold it for long!" Xavier screamed to the girl over the hissing and howling of their assailant as it struggled to get free from the impaling.

Rose hurried over to Xavier with her staff in tow. "I can teleport us a short distance but I don't think there's any land around here."

Xavier looked up at the stars and figured out where they were. "There is! It's hard to see because it's cloudy but to the west is an island friendly to pirates. They can help us there but we have to go now!"

Rose gasped. "Marok Island? We're out here? Alright, I'll get us there!" She grasped Xavier's hand and his vision was suddenly overwhelmed with light.