Concert for Two

Warming Up
"Believe it, sir!" Jenks's voice filled the small room. A room amongst many within the Purgatory Ship of the Notch Pirates. It was decked at Meatcroft Island, a place widely known for not only being the house of many meat factories, but also one of the recent territories of the Notch.

Some of the Emprises at Meatcroft had also estabilished themselves back at Paradise. With it being a territory of Notch, there were several members of its crew present.

"It truly has one of the most beautiful herbs I've seen!" Jenks continued, gushing at Blumenthal Gerhard, who sat over a desk while analyzing some transparent pots.

Gerhard rolled his eyes and puffed his cheeks, "Wha' th'fuck d'ya know 'bout herbs, Jenks?" He even stopped polishing the pots, which contained several herbs each.

In a exaspered breath, Jenks stuttered, "S-Sir, I was a farmer o-once!" Gerhard blinked, prompting Jenks to respond the same way.

The man had been a farmer, then a navigator, then a doctor? "...Good shit," Gerhard commented and was, then, back to cleaning his pots. "If that's true... I wonder f'I can fake somethin', a mission." Jenks almost jumped from his place, was his boss truly putting so much faith in him? "Hmmmm, I shouldn't go dere alone..."

Perching up, Jenks proposed, "What if I call one of the Eight Knights?" Gerhard tilted his head to speak, but Jenks hurried out of the door, "I'll do that!!" The former only shook his head and focused back on his pots.

Although the island wasn't that big, it still possessed a lot of factories over its landscape, many of which Jenks ran through. All of them painted the island with a deep grey, also releasing a lot of smoke from their tops. He really wished he could find Sir Alistair or any of the Knights soon, the former because he was basically the leader to the group.

As luck would have it, walking through the streets of Meatcroft was no other than Al Khalifa Ain, one of the Eight Knights. Although her movements were stealthy in the rather normal setting, her outfit distinguished her from the many civilians that coursed up and down the roads of the island. As she walked with silent steps, her left hand gripping her blade's handle, Ain spotted a red-haired man, with a look of worry on his face, running in the opposite direction. "Hm, is that not a member of my divison?"

Instantly, Jenks turned his head at the presence of Ain, particularly of her clothes, having ran past her. "K-Khalifa-san," He managed out, sweat going over his pale frame, "I was in search of one of you!"

As the man approached, Ain recognized him as Jenks, a doctor of her crew. She raised one of her eyebrows as she stared at the man in confusion. "How may I help you, Jenks?" she asked, her hand leaving her blade's handle.

"It's nice t-to see you! I talk about Gerhard-boss!" Jenks flailed his arms around, there was no way he was going to say it, "Can you meet him at the docks?" Oh boy, he really was, and to a Knight on top of that. "S-Sir Ascalon has given him a mission of utmost importance, like, you m-must aid him-"

"I have given him what?" Came the voice of none other than Ascalon himself, while he stepped out of a factory in the background. "Greetings, Belphegor," He nodded at Ain, "Crow's Beak," Then at Jenks, the latter paling even more at the Mink's presence. How unconvenient it was for him to just have been there close. "He can't be talking about that mission..." Ascalon arched one of his eyebrows.

Eyes glancing to one side and the other, Jenks stuttered, "I-I was informing Khalifa-san of her mission, so she is to go with Ger-boss!" No way, now it was a Knight and an Apocalypse.

"That mission...?" Could it have been, the mission to rise amongst the Horsemen and prove oneself?

"Y-Yeah."

Ascalon cupped his chin, "I see..." He glanced forward, Jenks gulped. "So it really must be that mission!" Jenks nodded with a sudden smile. Trying not to tighten his fist, Ascalon continued to reason mentally, "Freyja said Gerhard wasn't as loyal as the others, but he is already going for that mission."

"Yes, that mission!" Jenks gulped, legs moving much like they had their own lives.

"Good, that mission!" Ascalon clapped briefly, looking at Ain then and smiling, "I wish you good luck, Belphegor!"

"Thank you, Ascalon. I will do my best to make sure that I accomplish the mission properly," she said bowing down. A habit. She then turned towards to Jenks, who was sweating so profusely, one could fill a bottle with the liquid. It was evident the man was nervous. "Shall we be off then Jenks? To the docks that is."

With Ascalon hurrying away without a thought, Jenks only nodded at Ain's words and managed a smile. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad after all, it was going to be a peaceful trip, in a peaceful island, with peaceful people- Maybe not. Gerhard had told him that, apparently, Freyja had been really questioned during that meeting at Brine, maybe those Alliance guys were truly tougher than they seemed.

This would be good, maybe they could show it was a good idea after all.

Walking alongside Ain, Jenks held himself from talking to her, after all, they weren't too close, nor were he too talkative. Nevertheless, the walk was quick, the visages around them were repetitive, yet, boredoom didn't attack.

Both stood before the vessel of Purgatory, the ship that pertained to whoever claimed the Horseman of Conquest Title.

It was majestic. Ain had seen it countless times but still could not help but be surprised. Although at first, it resembled any normal pirate ship, the figurehead of the ship was a black unicorn. Its size was also bigger compared to many vessels. After staring at it in awe, Ain turned to Jenks. "So, where is the Commander?" she asked.

"Why, hello!" A voice echoed from the ship, pertaining to a head that sprouted from one of the windows on its side. "I'mma' here," It was Gerhard, he waved while his cheeks were puffed and his eyes closed. Then, they opened, "Oh, so it's Ms. Ain that's come with us?"

Jenks motioned for Ain to go into the ship with him, "Y-Yes, she is willing to help you out boss!!" He cheered.

"Why, enter enter," Gerhard ducked his inside back inside the window, quickly walking through the quarters of the ship and into the deck. "Glad to have ya', didn't think anyone'd come..." He tilted his head with a frown, voice still a bit muffled by his mask.

The corners of Ain's mouth etched into a small smile as Gerhard waved at them, she nodded from a distance. She approached the ship, walking into its deck. She tilted her head in response. "Why wouldn't anyone come?" she asked, although it came out more blunt than she intended, the question was genuine.

For a second, Gerhard's eyes widened, "Oh, um," He waved again, "Y'know, all tha' shit on choosin' what Horseman to support." Yes, indeed, then they had to prove to the higher-ups of the crew just how much they deserved Freyja's loyalty, how great. "...Not like we weren't already," Words that went muffled by his beak, while he strolled towards the master cabin.

Beat, in a breath Gerhard halted before passing through the open door, "Plus, like, I'm just th'Doctor." Shoulders rising in a shrug, Gerhard finally entered the place, "We'll be settin' sail y'all." He yelled from inside, prompting most men to hurry and run around.

Stirring Up
Meanwhile, at Meatcroft still, other members of the Notch Pirates seemingly assembled. They all walked into one of the island's main factories, at least, it was the one with the most free space to circulate around. After all, they all needed to fit in.

Standing tall amongst the crowd of factory workers and pirate grunts was Ascalon. "Now-gara- Hmph," He coughed and whipped his head around, hopefully no one noticed. "Now, Notch Pirates! I wish for whoever is here from our elite members to present themselves!" Ascalon put a hand forward.

Sailing Up
Gerhard's previous response had made Ain think deeply. She sat in the bed of the room she was assigned, with her legs crossed. "I still wonder what he meant..." she said as she uncrossed her legs and stroked her chin. "Well, it won't do any good to keep pondering." she sat up from the bed and grabbed her sword and mask from the nightstand then made her way out of the room.

Walking down the wooden hallway, with quiet steps as if to not disturb anyone. As she was about to walk up the stairs and into the deck, she encountered a brown-skinned young woman, that she had surprisingly, never seen before. "Excuse me, I am Al Khalifa Ain and I believe we've never met but may I have your name?" Ain asked, extending her hand.

The aforementioned woman swiftly turned around, eyes wide and a sandwich in her mouth, "O-Oh!" It entered and vanished within her lips, "Y-You're the Hell Knight, Belphegor!" Her ebony skin shone by reflecting the light of a nearby lamp, however, they seemed to be completely weak in comparison to her eyes. They glimmered at the sight of Ain, "P-Pleased to meet you!"

Waves went and came, hitting the sides of the ship quietly. Quite an unusual day for the New World itself. No birds sung into the dark skies.

"My name is Mayana!" Mayana stretched her hand for Ain, only then noticing it was dirty with sandwich remains. With a few claps, she cleaned it and steeled herself, "I'm but a simple member of Ger-boss's squad!" Even if briefly, Mayana blinked rapidly, "I-Is there anything you need help with?"

Ain was surprised by the girl's antics but smiled in response, "Please, you can call me Ain." she said. "Well, I've been away for a while from the crew, and I was wondering if you could tell me. I haven't seen the Captain in a while." Ain spoke with a tinge of worriedness in her voice, while she was usually more reserved if it concerned Freyja, she would definitely be more active.

"P-Pardon, B- Ain!" Mayana's mouth twisted, yet it still tried to form a smile. Upon hearing Ain's next words, though, she blinked rapidly, mouth as a small o. "Y-You weren't informed?" Of course, it wasn't to be a question, after all, the Knight had just told her that. "W-Well," Mayana brought a finger to her lips.

How could she even begin? Even she herself felt such a weight upon her shoulders when told about the subject. Suddenly, Mayana closed her eyes and slapped the sides of her face. Then, she looked directly at Ain, "So, from what I was told..." Mayana swallowed raw saliva, "Freyja-san h-has told us that she's treated us unfairly." Her gaze dropped for a few seconds, she found herself gasping when she had heard that from two of her superiors.

"...She received a suggestion from Ger-boss himself," Gaze shooting up, Mayana's eyes met Ain's once again, "To have the Horsemen enter a trial... in which they seek to prove their worth to her and the crew." Another gulp, there was much work to be done, and sometimes she asked herself if it was worth it. "It- It's each of the Horsemen are seeking support and doing missions!! So they can maybe be captain!"

Ain's eyes expanded momentarily as she processed the information. "Treated us unfairly? What is the captain on about?" she asked herself. What could Freyja possibly mean?! Ain shook her head as a way to return back to the present. Her gaze met Mayana's, her demeanor calm once again. "So that's what the Commander is doing. Perhaps he wants to win and if that is the case I suppose I shall assist." Ain walked towards the girl, extending her hand once more. "Well, thank you for your time Mayana, let us both do our best in this mission." A smile. A genuine smile formed on the knight known as Belphegor.

"I think she refers to how she hid behind Ascalon-san..." Mayana almost cowered, glancing to her sides, "But... still, yes, that's what I think as well!" After all, he was a man with dreams, a man with resolve, right? Almost jumping at the gesture, Mayana blinked but extended both her hands, gripping Ain's single one. "It's my pleasure, Ain-san! Likewise," Letting go of the woman's hand, Mayana turned around swiftly.

Before she entered a door, however, Mayana hushed briefly and talked to Ain once again, "We'll be getting there in some hours, by dawn." She had to make sure Ain and the others were informed after all. No one was a better information person than her.

"Alright, thank you, Mayana," Ain responded before she walked away. Once Mayana was gone, Ain began to walk once again, pondering of what to do with the remaining time. "Hmm, maybe I should visit the Commander," nodding to herself, Ain strolled through a couple of stairs that would lead her to the main deck, where she would see many of her comrades working hard. She then continued down to the master's cabin and knocked on the door.

Upon the sound of knocking, Gerhard's voice responded, "Com'n," Should Ain do so following the next moment, she would find herself looking at a rather simple cabin. A shelf filled with books and what seemed to be flasks stood to the left, while to the right was a desk, not too big, but not too small. It had a book over it, next to it some sort of pencil.

Gerhard himself stood in the middle of the cabin, behind a desk that had some log poses over them. Used as a seat behind the desk was a bed, a small one. "What s'it?" Gerhard asked upon the silence.

Much like Gerhard asked her to, Ain walked in, closing the door behind her carefully. She approached the table and looked intently at the man. "Well, I'd like to know more about the mission before we get to our destination. I want to know if I'm well-prepared or not." she said.

"Oh," Was the single thing that came out of Gerhard's muffled mouth. Shit, what could he even- No, she was a person from his crew, she had to have some satisfaction. "We're... infiltratin' a marine base," His eyebrows went up and down, the image of those shiny herbs came to his mind, "Tis' a secret really, no one woulda' even thought there was one there." A hand was waved around.

Leaning towards the desk, Gerhard eyed Ain directly in her own eyes, "An' as a secret base... it's got some cool stuff." He nodded slowly, cheeks puffed as if he smiled, maybe he was. "But, th' best part's... there's no super strong officer inside." Then, Gerhard went back to his initial position, the sound of the waves against the ship reached their ears, wood creaking.

"It's got these... crazy big bugs tho', so, it'll be a hard phase." Gerhard nodded, glancing nowhere for a second. "But, I know we can certainly try."

Ain cocked one of her eyebrows. "Alright, I'll go get ready." Perhaps it had been fate, that Jenks had found Ain before any of the other Hell Knights, infiltration, after all, was one of her fortes. That and well, fighting. She promptly left the room and headed back to her own quarters.

About half an hour later, the ship had suddenly stopped. By the sounds of quickened steps and loud voices, Ain guessed that her pirate compatriots had anchored the ship. In the middle of her room, Ain sat on her knees, with her hands interlocked. "I guess we're here, wish me luck, Father," she said, rising from the prayer position that she was previously in, Ain headed for the main deck, were she awaited for Gerhard and company to appear, before they went into the island.

Fighting Up
The island, Gloverive laid before Ain's eyes, eyes whose vision was almost completely covered, given the width of the land and how numerous were its mountains. These mountains had black dots over bits of their frame, while them themselves were more brown in texture. One would likely wonder how someone could even climb them.

Covering most of the landscape were several trees, some of which were either strangely large or tall. Maybe, people trying to climb those mountains had a chance to survive by using their immense leaves as cushions. Some of the leaves seemed incomplete, as if something had done it on purpose, however one couldn't see any large beast or animal roaming around, no heavy step ressonated towards the beach either. While the mountains were more scattered, the trees seemed a bit closer to each other, though, they were not as numerous. The largest of them had a pretty wide and almost yellow trunk, standing at Gloverive's geographical middle.

But, that was not all. From a naked eye vision, there wasn't any... Marine Building in the distance, neither to the right nor to the left. Unless, of course, there was one behind any of the mountains. Even then, what the eye couldn't see, the mind could. Apparently.

"Y'all takin' care of th' ship?" Gerhard's voice went up, while he walked into the deck with other members such as Henry, Mayana, and Jenks. The latter two waved briefly at Ain, though, everyone was soon close to her.

Henry scoffed, "Count on us, boy." Eyes rolling, he nevertheless smiled. Since they were close to the beach though, Henry was already putting a bridge from the ship and into the sand.

"Good luck, miss Ain," Mayana cheered with a fist, while Jenks merely grinned and waved at her, again. Gerhard had been standing close to him and one, if paying attention, could see they had talked briefly. Without wasting any other second, Gerhard quickly walked through the bridge and over the beach.

Saying her goodbyes as well, Ain followed closely behind Gerhard, moving from the ship and into the beach. She looked back one last time and waved at both Mayana and Jenks, a smile forming on her lips as she did so. The duo began to walk at a normal pace, "Commander, this... Marine base, do we have clues as to where it is?" Ain asked, wondering whether they were headed for the mountain, or the gigantic, yellow trunk, tree.

Rising a finger, Gerhard stepped a few times and turned to look at Ain, "Okay, about that-" Hustle, the wind behind them soared within a moment and, in the blink of an eye, something crept from the forest's shadows. Sharp teeth appeared alongside flowing bits of saliva, as a large mouth covered almost Gerhard's entire figure and pulled him into the woods. In that brief moment, it didn't seem that any blood poured from the notch pirate, but, it had happened too suddenly.

Furthermore, something much more notable in that moment was the owner of said mouth... Its head had large yellow eyes and several long horns sprouting at the forehehad, skin much like armour and dark blue like the night. A rupturing circle of air was born between Ain and this unknown beast, signaling the latter's retreat, something which pushed both sand and water away from that point on, possibly affecting Ain as well.

Regardless, after that one was gone, many shiny eyes made themselves present from behind the nearby woods, all of them set upon Ain's figure.

As the beast seemingly swallowed Gerhard, Ain was taken aback but instinctively jumped back, pulling out her sword out of its sheath. The air pressure created by the monstrous creature momentarily stunned Ain as she stabbed her scarlet sword on the ground and grabbed tightly on to it so that she wasn't blown away. She closed her eyes to prevent debris from ruining her vision.

Suddenly, a chill ran through Ain's body, as if someone was watching her. Instinctively, she utilised her Kenbunshoku Haki to scan her surroundings. "Found you!" she exclaimed, out of the corner of her eye, she noticed a momentarily shine and in one fluid motion, rapidly turned around, her blade carrying momentum as she did so. She swung the blade horizontally with great force and speed, releasing a slash of compressed air that made their way towards whatever or whoever, was spying on her.

As she finished her attack, Ain took a fighting stance, her knees bent and her upper body slightly lowered. She would be ready to react at a moment's notice if necessary.

With Ain's attack, several shadows erupted from the trees and flew into the air, in fact, their figures seemed even bigger due to obscuring the sun cast on the beach. Five in total. However, there were still some standing at the Pirate's level, frames finally revealed since Ain's slashing attack chopped off the nearby trees. Those figures were nothing more than giant insects, with the group standing before her looking like some kind of beetle species, evident by their horns. A group of Stringbeetles. Only one stepped from the woods, steps that shook the entire area.

It seemed that the slash didn't procceed into the forest, rather, it had vanished into pure steam that came from one of the beetle's stretched hands. Yes, with its mere fist, it managed to counter whatever kind of attack Ain aimed for. Its yellow eyes glared directly into hers and, without any moments of thinking, it spread its long arms wide and horizontally, producing a blade of compressed air akin to Ain's. Yet, its size was twice as large and managed to cross their distance within a second.