Leon, the Mighty Gale Chapter 14
Truth of the Matter
By Samara Secor
Marina steepled her fingers under her chin, “So, this purple-haired figure that you saw... Was that Ione?”
“Well, not quite. Though, I’ll have to admit that was the first thought that came into my head when I finally did meet her,” Ember grimaced. “It caused a bit of trouble, too. You see, it was actually her... But I’m getting ahead of myself. After we’d knocked a few heads together and brought the two crews in for justice, we got some conflicting stories.”
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“Listen, you big dumb barbarian! I told you this before, but you’re obviously too dense to understand. I am not a pirate. I’m a swordsman! My fellows and I were hired by one of the elites of Vane to take back something that was stolen by the real pirates! Those guys over there...” the man said, pointing over towards the erstwhile crew of the other ship. “They’re the pirates.”
Neither Blaine nor the others that the man was referring to took his comments very well. Luckily for him, both his crew and the other were behind bars. However, Blaine was not and had to be physically restrained by Ember to keep him from choking the man. “Why don’t you let me take a piece out of his hide, huh? Just a tiny piece?” Blaine growled. “Then, he’d see why there are no thieves on the prairie... no live ones, anyway.”
Chiron made a noise that sounded suspiciously like a snort before assuming a look of angelic innocence. “Really now, Blaine. We’re not exactly on the prairie right at the moment, so you can hardly resort to such... interesting methods of punishment,” Chiron made a show of studying his fingernails before looking at the person they were interrogating. “Putting aside all prejudices for the moment, there seem to be two flaws in your story. One, the item that you claim that they have stolen was found nowhere onboard their ship... or yours, for that matter.”
“B..but,” the man spluttered.
Chiron raised a finger to warn him to silence. “I’m not finished. Two, the person whom you claimed to have hired you does not exist anywhere in the records of Vane, as I’m sure Lark Ausa will confirm,” he said, placing special emphasis on the name as he glanced at the young mage, who nodded his agreement. “So, let us say that, if the bare facts of your story are true, mainly the description of the man who hired you and the reason for which he did so, then he could not have been from Vane. Also, if the item was present onboard the ship, then why is it not there now, and how did it disappear?”
“Oh, come on, Chiron. Use your head... or should I say, nose,” Ember rolled his eyes. “There was a magic folk person on that ship, non-Vane to be sure, but still.... He was capable of using teleportation magic, so, if we accept what this guy’s saying as true, then the one to go after is...”
“Now, Ember, don’t jump to conclusions,” Sharra said, looking up briefly from the report she was writing of the contents of both ships that they had found. “I have an inquiry of my own to make. Friend, if you don’t mind my asking, do you even know what was in this box that you were looking for?”
“Uh... no,” the man admitted.
“Were you given any instructions not to open the box or anything of a similar nature?”
“Our employer...” Ember had to say one thing for the guy, he was sticking with the same story even in the face of their questioning. “...did tell us that opening it would be a waste of time for any non-magician, that there was a spell lock on it.”
“Spell locks...” Lark shuddered. “I hate those things. It’s so hard to come up with a decently complex one that won’t instantly destroy the contents if someone botches the initial incantation or its removal.”
“Tch... It really doesn’t matter how difficult a spell lock is on a box we’re not even sure exists,” Chiron looked between the bars at the crew that had supposedly had the box in their possession. “I don’t suppose any of you would be willing to enlighten us as to the truth of the matter, hm?”
A low murmur ran through the group, and finally, they nudged forward one of their members as a spokesman, “Yes, we did have what these people were looking for. But there’s just one thing you have to hear, whether you believe us or not. We’re not pirates either!”
Everyone groaned.
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“That’s incredible...” Marina shook her head. “Incredibly stupid. How did you ever get a mess like that straightened out?”
“It never was actually straightened out in the purest sense. However, we did discover that this purple haired magic guy, going by the name Genkaku, went around impersonating several people, including the mayor of the town who told us to go out there. Argh... It irked finding out that I was actually standing right next to the guy and carrying on a conversation with him and didn’t realize a thing. He was more slippery than an eel and a skilled enough illusionist as to be able to fake almost anything and be completely undetectable, and Ione was his twin sister... His identical twin sister. How we found out, well... It was totally embarrassing.”
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“....You’re making a big mistake.” Chiron said.
“Don’t be ridiculous! That’s him right there, exactly as he was described,” Blaine countered. “There’s no mistake about it. And if you think it’s such a mistake, why did you come, anyway?”
“Did I have much of a choice?” Chiron wondered aloud before muttering under his breath, “You’ll see.”
Ember heard and ignored Chiron’s complaint. After all, he was almost always complaining about something and his ego was just this side of insufferable. Giving him more attention than he deserved would only make things worse as far as he could tell. He turned to Lark, “If you can set up a barrier to prevent his escape by teleport, I’ll take care of any magic he throws our way. And Blaine, you can distract him while Chiron gets him from behind. Chiron, do you have a problem with that plan?”
“I’m sure I could do my part in sneaking well, but Blaine isn’t a very smooth talker. How about a reverse? I provide the distraction, and he does the sneaking?”
“What do you mean... I’m not a smooth talker?” Blaine frowned.
“To be perfectly honest?” Chiron grinned wickedly. “You have all the tact and delicacy of a gargoyle on a sugar high.”
Sharra stepped between them, certain Blaine was just about to let the slim musician have it, “Guys, please, don’t fight now. Remember the mission?”
Blaine forced himself to relax and seemed content to merely glare at Chiron. In a tone almost as smug as his expression, Chiron asked Ember, “So, shall I be the distraction instead?”
‘Why does he seem so eager to do this now? Like Blaine said, he didn’t want to come...’ Vaguely, Ember thought that there might be some reason for his uneasiness, but he didn’t have time to analyze it, “All right. Go ahead, Chiron.”
After Chiron and Blaine had both left, Sharra commented, “Looks like Chiron’s turning on the charm again.”
“Hm? What do you mean?” Ember asked.
Lark smiled slightly, “Have you noticed how his personality changes when he has a show to perform? Or a lady to impress?”
“Or a prank to pull,” Sharra added. “You’d better keep an eye on him. He’s up to something.”
As if on cue, they heard a girl screaming, “Get your hands off of me, you pervert!” followed by Blaine crying out in pain and gales of laughter from Chiron.
Sharra sighed heavily, “Too late.”
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“You... You set me up,” Blaine said, his voice muffled as it came around the makeshift ice pack he was holding up to his jaw.
Chiron snickered, “Well, excuse me, but is it really my fault if people fail to notice certain details... Ow! Hey, Lark, what was that for?”
“For being an insensitive boor, much the same as you accuse Blaine of being,” Lark settled back in his chair and closed his eyes, looking for all the world as if he’d gone to sleep. “We’re dreadfully sorry to have disturbed you Miss Ione, but you see, we’re looking for...”
“Genkaku?” she asked and, seeing their expressions, added, “Well, don’t look so shocked. I’ve been mistaken for my twin before now. It’s hardly a new occurrence to me. So, what trouble has my... ‘evil’ twin gotten himself into this time?”