Ruthless Winds and Raging Seas

Chapter 19

Now Bacchus didn't just serve as an informant to Jellal, he served as an informant for anyone who was willing to pay him with alcohol or money to buy alcohol. Now it just so happens that the crew known as Tartaros was left feeling very sore after losing the map to Fairy Tail. They too were searching for the book of E.N.D but it wasn't for the same reasons that Fairy Tail wanted it. Their leader, Captain Mard Geer actually wanted to open the book and unleash all the horrible creatures locked inside on to the world.

Now the entire crew of Tartaros was sick and twisted but Mard Geer was pure evil incarnate. An amoral psychopath who would not hesitate to destroy anyone he perceives as a threat to his own sinister designs. They say that he was born without a conscience, that he felt no remorse for any of his actions. That nothing made him happy except for watching the world and all who lived in it suffer. They also said that on the side he could be quite classy and flamboyant.

Why Mard's crew want to help him achieve his goal? No one really knows. But for whatever reason the crew was determined to help their captain get what he want and the first step in that mission was to get Bacchus to reveal the whereabouts of Fairy Tail. Kyoka and Jackal confronted him in the local bar. He wasn't quite drunk yet and he didn't seem interested in talking but they knew how to deal with him.

"What do you want?" Bacchus asked.

"We need you give us some information." Kyoka said.

"What's in it for me?"

"Jackal."

Her partner held up a bottle of rich, red wine that had been aged for fifty years. It was like a block of solid gold to someone like Bacchus. The drunkard felt his mouth water with desire for the wine.

"What do you want to know?" He asked.

"Where is Fairy Tail?"

"Last I heard they were at the caverns of the kraken."

"What were they doing there? Only fools go after that creature."

"I guess that makes you all fools as well." Bacchus chuckled.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well aren't you all after the same thing they're after? The book of E.N.D? Don't you know that to open the temple which holds the book you need to build a sacred key. One of the items needed to assemble the key is the ink of a kraken which they collected."

"They actually got the ink?"

"Yes and they don't just have the ink. They also have the dead man's coins and a live mermaid, all they need now is the horn of a capricorn. Once they get their hands on that and convince the mermaid to shed a tear then the key will be complete."

"Why do they want the book?"

"They don't want to open it like your sick boss wants to. They're going to hold the book for ransom. Not a bad idea, that is if they survive the island."

"Is that all you know?"

"For now."

"Can we trust him?" Jackal asked Kyoka.

"The man's a dirty drunk but I've never known him to lie. Let's go."

"Oh wait! I forgot one more important thing." Bacchus said.

"What?" She said.

"The royal navy is after them."

"What for?"

"Apparently he has the governor's daughter."

"Abducting a woman? That doesn't sound like Natsu." Jackal said.

"That's because he didn't abduct her. She accidentally fell on to his ship, he intends to return her to the governor after they get the book."

"So the royal navy and the governor's daughter are involved in this too? This should be very interesting. Anything else?"

"That's all I know now give me the wine."

They gave him what he had earned, returned to their dark and mysterious ship, and then went to tell their captain what Bacchus had told them.

"So the son of my old adversary Igneel thinks he can steal what's rightfully mine and hold it for ransom does he?" He chuckled from his seat in the shadows. "He's a fool, just like his father."

He was a tall, lean man who often either had a diabolical smirk or a sarcastic glare. He looked like a human, he sounded like a human but nothing he did was the act of a moral human being. He belittled everyone around him and considered them to be nothing more than insects for him to squash.

"What should we do Captain?" Kyoka asked.

"I say we go after them, kill them, and steal the map, the ink, coins, and the mermaid for ourselves!" Jackal said. "I want to get back at that creep Natsu for making a fool out of me."

"Patience Jakal, patience." Mard Geer said calmly. "You'll have your blood shed eventually but for now we do nothing."

"Nothing? Are you serious?!"

"Yes, nothing but watch and wait."

"What good will that do?"

"You think too hastily Jackal. If we are to achieve our goals then we must be patient and clever. Think things through before acting, besides if the royal navy is following them then we should be extra careful to keep our distance. You don't want to be arrested and hanged do you?"

"No sir."

"That's what I thought. Let Natsu and his crew find the capricorn horn and the temple. They'll just be making our mission a lot easier but when the time comes to use the key then we shall strike."

He turned to Tempester and his other crew member Keyes. They were his most calculating, slippery, and sneaky members, they could do just about anything without being seen. If he ever needed a couple of spies to seek out information for him then they were the ones to do it.

"Tempester, Keyes, I want you to keep a close eye on Natsu and his crew. Follow them secretly, keep yourselves hidden and unseen. Try to figure out everything you can about everyone on that ship. Including that pretty little mermaid and the governor's precious daughter. They both shall prove to be very useful in the future."

"Aye-aye Captain." The two said before slipping off to do as they were told.

"Now leave me." He told Jackal and Kyoka. They quickly and silently exited their captain's chambers. "Oh Igneel, if I remember correctly you always warned that boy of yours to stay away from that book. But it seems that children never listen to the wisdom of their parents. Then again perhaps I should be grateful that he's going to look for that book because as of now he's doing all the hard work for me."

Mard Geer was certainly no ordinary pirate. It wasn't just his cruelty that made him different it was also the fact that he didn't rely on pistols, cannons, and swords alone. He also tapped into the art of voodoo and he used it to his advantage many times. He learned and gained the dark power of voodoo by selling his soul to the devil himself. The fact that he had made a deal with the devil made him a thousand times more dangerous than any of his other crew members. He was definitely a man to be feared.

Using one voodoo trick he made Tempester, Keyes, and the boat they were using invisible and using another voodoo trick he learned, he would be able to see everything they saw on Fairy Tail's ship through a special glass orb that was connected to their eyes.

"I do wonder what interesting facts I'll learn about those idiots." He thought to himself. "Especially Natsu. He's the one I'm most curious about. If I'm lucky I'll learn what weakens him."

He made a quiet sinister chuckle and started to look through the glass orb.