As the sun rose in Flarenorice, so did its citizens. The endless blue surrounding the island sparkled ever so brightly. There were little clouds floating in the sky, not enough to block out the sun, but just enough to soften the harmful rays from the shining star.
Gleams of sunlight pierced through the windows of the Yuzu Estate. Its rays were so bright, one could see the specks of dust floating in the air. Emerging from her room, Maria yawned loudly as she walked across the empty halls. Her hair was an absolute mess, and the pajamas she wore were a third unbuttoned.
Her bare footsteps softly tapped against the warm carpet. She wanted to find somewhere to drink fresh water, but was drawn in by a sweet, lingering scent. It pulled her in like a rope as she mindlessly ventured toward the dining room of the estate.
Inside was Yuna Yuzu, the owner and sole resident of the estate. She sat in front of a large table covered in white cloth, with vases of flowers decorating it. In her hands was a small book, most likely a novel.
Maria looked around. The room itself was a fortress of expensive oak. The pillars were carved with twisting vines and thorns, rising up to meet a ceiling where glass chandeliers hung like frozen explosions of light.
When she looked down, she realized that despite the sweet smell, there wasn’t any food in front of Yuna.
“Hey, did you already have breakfast?” Maria asked, pointing at the empty table. Yuna lowered her book.
“Miss Lemonia.” Her tone was as stern as ever. “I have not, my dearest darling Finny begged me ever so vehemently to allow him to cook breakfast. Perhaps I should hire him as a chef, then we can spend so much more time together.”
“It’s not like you to give someone access to the house’s features,” Maria added, completely ignoring her last remark.
“Well, unlike you, Miss Lemonia, Finny would never steal from this house’s treasures. I could see the truth in his eyes. In fact, I may have seen bits of love in that gaze too. Love for me, of course.”
“Looks like you need to get your eyes checked first. He’s a pirate with almost the same bounty as me, y’know?”
Yuna placed a hand over her mouth to cover her smug expression. “My, are you that jealous that he’s taking all my attention away from you?”
“Or perhaps, you are also fond of him as well?”
Yuna’s string of words jolted Maria awake. “Me?!”
“W-W-Who would ever?! I mean, I like him as a friend, sure, but not all this love nonsense that you’ve been spewing ever since you met him!”
“Then, you wouldn’t mind if I took him away from you? OOOOOHOHOHOHOHOHO!!!”
Her laughter shattered the silent peace the room once held.
“I never said that either! I need him to get back out into the sea and find my old crewmates!”
“I don’t see how that’s his responsibility too. From what I heard, you lost that battle fair and square,” Yuna fired back.
Maria balled her hands into fists, biting down as hard as she could to contain the rage being baited by her snarky host. “Did he tell you that…? I swear, if he keeps spreading misinformation, I’ll blast him right here, right now.”
“At this point, I don’t care if we’re childhood friends! All liars must GO!”
“Fu, fu, fu…” a certain paper cat flew into frame. “It was I that told master ‘bout your ragin’ defeat, kelp-brains. It’s my job to look after everythin’ that goes on the island, after all.”
“Don’t underestimate a cat’s ability to spectate events. ‘Cuz from my perspective, you were steered off-course by the boy’s magic.”
Fury practically steamed out of Maria’s ears. The only other person who could possibly aid her in this battle of wits was in the kitchen, humming away.
“By the way, master.” The cat rang, floating over beside Yuna. “How was yer talk with the boy last night?”
“I heard some things happened in his quarters while kelp-brain was asleep. Fu, fu, fu, did you do that with him?”
Maria’s eyes widened, and Yuna averted her gaze ever so slightly. “KEKEKE!! Looks like my little bait on the boy was nothing but successful. I was tryin’ to tell that boy about your fantastique body last night. I ended up dying somehow, but I bet it got the boy a lil’ y’know what.”
“W-W-What are you saying?! Yuna! What’s going on?!” Maria was flabbergasted. She was dull sometimes, but not oblivious enough to understand what the paper cat had been implying.
The mark on Yuna’s neck started to glow a bright orange-red.
“KEKEKEKE! Waddyamean ya don’t know? Ain’t it obvious? They obviously—“
A fireball was hurled at the cat with pinpoint precision, rapidly burning it to a crisp. “GAAAHHH!! IM DYIN’ IM DYIN’ O’ER ‘ERE!!! GAAAAAAAAAAH!!! HOW’S THIS KEEP HAPPENIN’?!”
“Ignore everything this stupid cat’s been saying,” Yuna finally spoke up. “All I did was go to his room and ask him a few questions. He’s good looking, but I’d be a fool to freely trust someone I just met with full access to my estate.”
She then smirked annoyingly. “I learned my lesson all too well, ever since a certain pirate scammed me out of my riches.”
“Ghk…” It wasn’t the first time she heard those words, and it certainly wasn’t going to be the last. Regardless, even though she felt an unsurmountable amount of guilt, she couldn’t bring herself to apologize.
Not because she struggled with apologies, but because if she did, then Yuna would hang it over her till the day she died.
“So, what’d you guys talk about?”
Suddenly, the double doors that led to the kitchen swung open, interrupting them. Fin appeared out of nowhere, holding two steaming plates of food in his hands. Neither lady could see it quite well, but the smell was nothing short of mouthwatering.
“Oh, good morning, Maria.” Fin greeted with a smile. Unlike her, he was already dressed for outdoor wear. It was typical pirate fashion, but he wore a white shirt with long brown pants.
“H-Hey. Good morning.” It had been an entire day since they both reunited as childhood friends. She couldn’t help but feel a bit of relief, as her ten-year search had finally come to a close.
“We were just talking about you,” Maria informed him.
“Hm? What were you talking about? Hopefully nothing bad.” He held such an innocent smile.
“Well, Yuna went to your room last night, right? I was just asking her what she asked you. She never did that kind of interrogation with me before, so I was just getting curious.”
Like flicking a light switch, Fin’s expression changed into a sullen look.
“What the hell’s that reaction?” Maria panicked. She snapped her gaze at Yuna, but even she looked away guiltily. Fin was one thing, but Yuna acting this way? This was a cause for concern to the pirate captain.
“Fin.” She spoke sternly. “What did you guys talk about?”
When they were children, speaking to Fin as if he was being scolded always forced him to confess whatever secret he was hiding. Even now, he squirmed upon being asked the question.
She felt bad for using such dirty tricks, of course, but desperate times called for desperate measures.
“I’m not telling.” He pouted.
“Wha—?!” Her tactics, for the first time in her life, had failed.
“Ghk…! You’re not a kid! I need to know in case she asked you something suspicious!”
“Don’t worry about that,” he said confidently, “she didn’t ask me anything suspicious. As a great pirate, I know when I’m being interrogated.”
Yuna grabbed the cup of tea that had been sitting in front of her and sipped the very last remnants, isolating herself from the conversation.
“Yuna! Fess up!”
“Miss Lemonia. I don’t break confidentiality, especially when it’s something as serious as our conversation last night.”
Maria couldn’t tell if Yuna was being serious or just teasing. Regardless, she decided to give up for the day, as she felt like she was going nowhere. Letting out a defeated sigh, she took a seat next to Yuna and tapped her finger against the wooden table.
“Well, what’d you make? I’m kinda hungry too.”
“Right, I forgot about that.” He snapped back to his usual self and took a few steps forward. As he slowly approached the two ladies, Maria closed her eyes, unable to ignore the small pang of jealousy. She wanted nothing more than to spend time with Fin, reclaiming some of their lost years while they still could.
Instead, Yuna had already monopolized him twice, leaving her behind. She knew it wasn’t likely, but Maria couldn’t help feeling anxious that the rich, beautiful noble would swoop him away from her.
As she was getting lost in thought, two plates slammed down in front of them.
“Thanks,” she said weakly. Fin noticed her low spirits right away and patted her on the back three times. It was a small gesture, but enough to encourage her to open her eyes again. But when she did…
Some food of an indescribable color was piled onto the large cream-colored plates.
“WHA?!” She hadn’t expected much. But right now, she wanted nothing more than to punch the living daylights out of Fin.
It was a plate full of roughly cut meat and vegetables. There were uneven slices of cucumbers, carrots, and potatoes. Hidden throughout were strings of half-roasted lizard tails, with its skin still intact. Not to mention, there was a layer of hard noodles underneath. The brown sticks were still bundled together, with burnt marks on each tip.
Holding it all together was a layer of strange sauce. It was green and mushy, serving as a glue to keep everything together.
“What’s… this…?” she was flabbergasted. Upon raising her head, she was met with Yuna’s jaw on the floor. It was like she was staring at a dead body in front of her. From her perspective, Maria could see the crush Yuna had on Fin slowly dissolve into nothingness.
Even the paper cat, which had come back to life a few seconds ago, flew away to avoid getting anywhere near the cursed object.
“What do you mean? It’s spaghetti.”
“I couldn’t find any red tomatoes, so I had to use green ones instead. Ah, but those veggies looked like they were about to expire, so I used them all.” He stated happily like he hadn’t committed the largest food crime in the world.
Gulping hard, both ladies’ hands shook in fear as they picked up a utensil. While they were distracted, Fin had gone into the kitchen and grabbed a plate for himself. He sat down and started eating. There wasn’t a single disgusted expression on his face.
“Say, Maria.” He lowered his fork.
“Since we need to repair our ship, we should find a way to get some money soon.”
“O-Oh, right. I haven’t thought about that.” Said Maria, relieved she could delay her first bite.
“After breakfast, I was going to head out to town and find some work. How about you?” he asked, taking another bite of his masterpiece.
“I wasn’t kidding about my offer, Finny. You can stay here as long as you need. I can even pay you to do some housework around here.”
“Everything but making food…”
Maria concurred.
“That’s a really generous offer, but I want to make sure we earn our right to get back out to the sea,” replied Fin, maintaining his calm tone.
“How commendable, my dearest Finny. I wish a certain other pirate would also lead by your example.” She tossed a snarky remark. Being so distracted by the food in front of her, Maria let it slide.
“We’re pirates, but we’re not savages. We didn’t get to where we are by being complete menaces to society.”
“Be nice and the world will be nice to you back. That’s what my teacher told me.”
“Teacher?” It was the first time Maria had heard of that.
Fin nodded. “Yeah. After I left the island, my boat capsized, and this lady with blue and white hair saved me. She took me under her wing and taught me all about magic and fighting techniques.”
“In many ways, I owe it to her for being such a strong pirate.” He smiled nostalgically. “And you, of course, Maria. I was doing it for you too.”
Maria blushed at the sudden comment. “Mm, you told me. N-Nice.”
“Magic? I thought pirates hated magic. If someone so great taught you, why didn’t you just become a mage instead?” Yuna’s question was obvious. Nobody talented in magic would choose such a backwards career path.
“Well, yeah. Pirates hate magic, but I wouldn’t have been able to find Maria if I just stayed at some random magic academy. Besides, my teacher is an academy headmaster, so I attended for a bit. To be honest, it just wasn’t quite for me.”
Maria mixed her food constantly, giving the illusion that she was eating it.
“I’ll go down to the city with you. Stealing is more my style, but without our ships, we’d just be like ducks in a barrel. Besides, I’d like to actually start looking for our crewmates. We can’t have been the only ones stranded here.”
Fin nodded and took another bite. Before they knew it, he had scraped his plate clean, without a single drip of sauce left, as if it had been freshly washed.
Freezing in thought, Maria couldn’t help but wonder if she even wanted to repair their ships as quickly as possible. The faster they set out to sea, the faster they would have to return to being enemies.
Sure, they could form an alliance, but doing so was the equivalent of announcing to the world that she wasn’t a strong enough pirate to stand on her own.
Before she could sulk any longer, Fin’s voice pierced through the air, making her heart sink with just a few words.
“Are you… not going to eat that…?”
Yuna and Maria froze. Their gazes met, coming to a silent, mutual agreement not to hurt the feelings of someone who had worked so hard to cook such a “delicious” breakfast for them.
They slammed down their utensils and started eating as fast as they could, practically inhaling it to avoid tasting the food.
Fin watched in joy as his meal was being “enjoyed” by the two ladies.
In the not-so-far distance, at the same semi-circle beach where Maria and Fin had washed up, another person gasped for air, vomiting out the excess seawater in their system.
“GAH! AHH!”
The tanned man lying on the sand in a starfish position was the first mate of the Clementine Pirates, Tan J. Rene.