It couldn't be said that Cannes didn't give the Diovolo a warm welcome. The torches they held at the ready for them as they came in to the docks were very warm, and as were the heated and rageous shouts that Yunara was sure suggested nothing less than his neck under a guillotine.
The Italian crew shouted and taunted the enraged citizens at the docks as the ship pulled in closer, and Yunara could only hope that Luca was telling the truth when he said he'd instructed his men to do the people of Cannes no harm, because their faces showed far too much enjoyment of the situation for her to believe he followed through with that promise.
A hand pulled her by shoulder, Yunara finding Luca's face startlingly close to hers, a grin spread on his face that told her he was getting far too much enjoyment from this as well. "We'll be landing soon. When we do, my men will be following your lead. Take us to this parallel point, or whatever it's called, and they'll ensure no harm comes us. Then I'll send them back to the ship when the magical parts start happening."
"I won't be guiding us anywhere," she corrected him, pulling out the silver bell she'd placed in the pocket of her briefs. A soft jingle sounded and Lorenn swooped in and landed on the ground beside them, Luca jumping from her startling entrance.
"An owl?"
"Is there a problem with that?" Lorenn challenged.
"She knows where the parallel point is, and we'll follow her to it," Yunara said, putting a hand on her hip.
"Ah. I would still follow you anywhere, regardless, il mio fiore."
Yunara set the distance of a few steps backward and looked to Kailu, who was standing by the balcony and she was sure had turned her head as soon as she'd seen Yunara look to her for help. Even Lorenn disappeared, perhaps indignant by the fact that she was brushed over by Luca, though it didn't make Yunara feel any less abandoned. "You think you're charming, don't you?" she said dryly.
"I'm trying to be. If the Moor doesn't catch your attention or fails to do so, it would be wasted opportunity if I didn't at least attempt a chance with a delicate flower like yourself."
"I told you I didn't like being called Moor."
"I didn't. I called you a delicate flower."
She sighed and rolled her eyes. Perhaps Kailu's advice was helping her, though not exactly for enjoying this unwanted attention, but rather adopting the ability to laugh at it. It was nothing if not ridiculous.
Her moments contemplating what exactly to think of Luca were cut short as Manuel came in on the two of them. "We're docking now," he told them, and Yunara noticed he had his sword at his side now. After a week of some form of tranquility, she lamented having to go right back into all the violence and danger. Kailu was armed with her blade as well, and she was quite certain Luca slept with his pistol as a habit. It was time to get back into it.
He asked, "are you ready?"
"Yes," Yunara answered immediately, eager to abandon the previous conversation and concentrate on the matters at hand.
Manuel was eyeing Luca, raising an eye and looking at the arm he used to cradle his stomach. "Are you sure you want to come?" he asked, sounding more like a threat than a friendly gesture.
"We already talked about this," Yunara answered instead, hoping it would be a quicker end to the debate that was formulating. "He's safer with us than he is without our protection. We know what we're looking at. His crew doesn't. And besides..." she closed her hand and felt what she was reaching for appear in her grasp. She rose in front of her a silver shield with a gleaming bear on the cover that said all she had to say for her, but she said it anyway. "This will protect him much better than his crew can."
"And injured or not, I can still shoot," Luca added, taking his pistol from his holster and swinging it precariously on his finger by the loop around the trigger. Yunara cringed as she watched it and imagined it would go off at any minute, as reckless as he looked with it. He held it like it was nothing more than a playtoy. He stopped the twirling and pointed it at Manuel and made a 'bang' noise with his mouth as he flicked it as if it had fired. "Any other objections?"
Once again, Yunara looked in Kailu's direction to see if she was merciful enough to help her, but found her intent upon staring at anything that wasn't in their direction. Though Yunara was sure she could see a smirk on her face when she turned her head.
Rather, it was one of Luca's crewman that came to her rescue with Youssef in tow, the Italian sharing a short exchange with his captain. Luca turned to them. "He's saying they're ready to follow your lead. He's already given Youssef all the money we will need to play the role of nobles. So you may want to call your owl friend, or however way these things work."
"Kailu!" Yunara called, pulling out the bell and ringing it as Kailu came to join them at last.
Lorenn came in flying, landing on Valentini's shoulder. "Need something?" she said with a tone of amusement to her voice.
"We're ready to go," Manuel said, looking at Lorenn, but still glancing at Valentini, who was pretending not to notice.
"Follow my lead."
Hopping off Valentini's shoulder, she took high in the sky, circling above the French peer, where a mob of people eagerly awaited them. Or more accurately, Luca's head.
They lead a group of Luca's men down the ramp and into the light of torches. Horses rode in, French police, from the look of it. They divided themselves, part of them keeping the crowd away from the scene, and the other part sent to deal with them.
When Yunara heard shots ring out, her heart was caught in her chest as she thought one of Luca's men had shot someone. But as the horses cried out and buckled under their riders, she realized it was they the ones shot and not the men. It didn't settle very well with her, but it was better than killing the officers, which she was sure the pirates were capable of.
A hand grabbed her by the arm and was pulling her along. "Lorenn is going that way, come on!" Manuel shouted, bringing her focus back on the matter at hand.
It was hard to see the brown owl against the star-speckled night sky, so Yunara focused on trying to notice movement, and soon found the owl circling in the air ahead of them.
Youssef lead them forward, setting the pace at a run. Around them, Luca's crew proved true to their word, holding the surrounding policemen down and coming about them with ropes to leave them tied up where they stood, but not laying them actual harm.
They raced through the streets of Cannes as fast as they could while trying to accommodate Luca. He was trying to act like he could keep up, but it was obvious by the way he clutched his abdomen and hid the winces in his face with plastered grins that he couldn't keep this up much longer.
It was then that Yunara noticed that it wasn't as noisy as it was before. Glancing back, she saw the sails of the Fantasma blowing to life behind the buildings. The pirates were making their leave, so she supposed Cannes was put at ease that it wasn't as bad as assumed. At least not for another four days.
"We can slow down now, the Fantasma is leaving."
"Only if you'd like," Luca wheezed, leaning up against a stone wall, no longer able to hide his face cringing.
"Luca, are you going to be okay?" Kailu asked with widened eyes once she noticed how pale his face was getting.
Youssef swept an arm under Luca's and upheld his left side. "Manuel, help me. He will be fine once he's safe and in bed again. Which will happen much sooner if we hurry."
Manuel rushed to his side as Luca managed a weak smile and a nod in affirmation before another wave of pain flashed across his face. "Listen to the old man. Now keep going. Where's the bird?"
"There," Yunara pointed out, finding Lorenn had flown a ways from them to have them turn down a narrow path.
"How much longer?" Youssef called out.
"You're almost there," she assured them.
Looking at Luca as Manuel and Youssef brought him along as quickly as they could, Yunara hoped they hadn't put too much strain on him this evening, because he was certainly looking more pale than he had the days he was bedridden. Suffering such a grave injury, they didn't want to move him so quickly, but their time constraints demanded it. It was their only choice out of necessity, but now she feared that it may have irreparable consequences. They would take him to a doctor as soon as they arrived in Gaiza, that was certain.
Lorenn landed on the ground in the middle of a plaza, a wide one that looked like it probably brought a lot of traffic during the day. As they stepped within the square, Yunara could immediately sense the presence of the parallel point within range.
"Is this it?" asked Youssef.
"Definitely," Yunara affirmed.
"Then let's get it over with," Luca slurred from between the two men. "Wave a magic wand, or whatever it is you do."
Kailu said, "You and I can do it together. Close your eyes and take a step forward. It will disorient you at first, so be warned."
Luca nodded weakly and did as he was told, Kailu closing her eyes and doing the same. The two vanished simultaneously.
Taking a deep breath, Yunara closed her eyes and let her consciousness slip as she stepped into a realm of not existing, welcoming the feeling of finally going back to her realm and amongst familiarity.
They emerged in Gaiza, home of the fifth and final one Chosen of the Ancients.
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Finally in Gaiza! I had a lot of fun creating the Elf country, so I can't wait for you all to see it. In the mean time, be sure to rate, comment, and share with friends if you liked this chapter!
See ya later ;)