After the initial shock of being hoisted into the air by a woman whom Seulgi had been taught to suspect as an insincere manipulator at best, she felt surprisingly calm as Moonbyul lead her out onto the roof of the Opera House. They had a commanding view of the peninsula and the moonlit coastline as it stretched back to the glimmering jewel that was Jidoor in the distance, but her attention was caught by the massive airship, far larger than their cutter - it was practically a full-sized galleon - suspended by what she could only describe as a balloon. Though said balloon was larger than the Opera House itself. The whole contraption was covered in bands of iron and propellers, a complex tangle of rigging, and black canvas, and Seulgi could start to understand why Joy had finally decided to go along with this plan. It looked like an engineer’s dream.

The captain stepped her foot on the lowest rung of a rope ladder that hung from the side of the ship and once more grabbed Seulgi firmly by the waist to be hoisted up to the deck. Seulgi was ready this time and stepped onto the ladder as well, figuring that this likely was part of the plan, and trusting that the girls would come and rescue her soon.

“Captain!” Sujeong cried out, and several other crew members crowded around as Moonbyul and Seulgi stepped up onto the deck.

“Is that… wait, that doesn’t look like Yerin…?”

“Did you change your mind?”

“Who is she?”

“Ladies!” Moonbyul said with a gloved hand raised to silence them. “Please allow me to introduce… er…” and the silver-haired captain leaned in close to Seulgi and whispered in her ear. “What’s your name, anyway?”

Seulgi found herself turning to whisper back in Moonbyul’s ear. “Seulgi!”

“Miss Seulgi!” Moonbyul said loudly for all of the crew to hear. “And yes, I did change my mind, Yooa, thank you very much. Seulgi’s much lovelier than Yerin, wouldn’t you agree?” she continued, gently putting a gloved finger beneath Seulgi’s chin in presentation.

Seulgi was surprised, and strangely disappointed, to see most of the crew members roll their eyes and cross their arms.

“Anyway, are we setting a new course, then?” Sujeong, already approaching the helm, asked. Or, well, Seulgi assumed it was the helm, though it was really more like a station covered with levers and dials, with no discernable steering wheel to be found.

“Oh,” Moonbyul drawled lazily, as she kept Seulgi close with a hand at the small of her back, “I think we’ll stick around for a while. I want to make the Impresario sweat a little, since he thought he could pull a fast one on ol’ Moonbyul.” The other women on the crew grinned and settled back into their relaxed poses.

“As beautiful as you are,” the captain continued to Seulgi, “I don’t really appreciate being stood up.” Seulgi was struck by the blunt compliment and found difficulty in replying. Moonbyul gave her a greasy smirk and began to lead her away, down the length of the deck towards a trapdoor.

“We’ll stay until the show’s over, and then we’ll see where the wind takes us.”

+++

The doormen to the Opera House saw Irene bearing down on them and quickly pushed open the doors for her with frightened expressions. As she ran into the lobby, she spotted Joy walking out of the auditorium, looking around curiously.

“Joy, she’s here!” Irene shouted as she tore up the staircase that led to the dressing rooms and upper levels of the Opera House.

Startled, but quickly moving into action, Joy ran to the coat check and banged on the little bell on the desk. “Hello?!”

A sleepy attendant came up to the desk and narrowed his eyes at her. “Do you have your number?” he asked, barely concealing his annoyance at Joy’s rushed manners.

“IT’S THE CHAINSAW. JUST GET IT,” she shouted at him, causing his eyes to widen, and he scurried away.

Irene flew up the stairs three at a time, and ushers and other staff had to press themselves against the walls to avoid being pushed aside by her. While she didn’t think that gadabout Moonbyul would do anything to actually harm Seulgi, Irene didn’t trust the captain alone with someone as naive and trusting as the chocobo rancher for an instant.

“The roof?!” she barked at an attendant as she came to the top landing of the staircase. The poor soul pointed a shaking finger at a door down at the far end of the hall, and Irene was off again. If Yeri wasn’t in pursuit as well, wherever she was, there was the distinct possibility that the captain could take off in her airship with Seulgi in tow, and fly away to Odin knew where. Irene wasn’t going to let that happen.

She slowed only as she reached out to wrench the handle of the door open, and gave the iron fire escape outside a cautionary glance before growling and pounding her way up the metal steps. Irene had a sudden errant thought, as she finally reached the roof and saw the rope tethers holding the airship in place where it hovered several dozens of feet above the Opera House. It was a thought that perhaps should have occurred to her a little earlier in their planning: she was afraid of heights.

But she wasted no time sheathing her blade and grasping onto the nearest rope in order to climb up onto the ship. As she quickly pulled herself up, hand over hand, she saw another figure doing the same out of the corner of her eye: a blonde woman in a tuxedo, with a dagger clenched between her teeth. Irene and Yeri reached the deck of the ship at the same time and hurtled over the railing, landing amongst a rather bored, and now stunned, crew.

“And just who are you two supposed to be-?” Somi, a rather tall woman in a white shirt and vest began to ask, before Irene drew her sword again.

“Irene, wait-”

“Where’s your captain?” Irene asked back, and there was the noise of multiple weapons being unsheathed - and of musket hammers being cocked.

"FLASH OUT!” Yeri suddenly yelled and years of military training had Irene instinctively closing her eyes as the deck lit up in a brilliant, white light. “Go find Seulgi!” Yeri called to Irene as the two of them crouched together amidst the cries and yells of the crew. “I’ll hold them off here. They know me - they won’t really hurt me. Hopefully.”  

Irene was only reassured by a certain dreaded noise sounding from where they had alighted on the deck moments ago.

BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR…!!!

“Go!” Yeri admonished, giving the ex-general a shove towards a trapdoor that presumably led to belowdeck.

+++

It wasn’t clear what Captain Moonbyul thought of Seulgi’s easy compliance, walking through every door the airship pilot opened for her, and taking her hand to be helped down the surprisingly elegant spiral staircase that led into a brightly lit, and well-furnished parlor. Did she think Seulgi was yet another enchanted girl, swept off her feet by the dashing captain? Hopefully she didn’t suspect that there was more to it than that, and wouldn’t see through Seulgi’s willingness to cooperate.

But as she began to examine her surroundings, ‘enchanted’ may have adequately described Seulgi's feelings about the ship after all. It was a stark contrast to the spartan interior of the Returner’s cutter, and Seulgi saw immediately what Joy had meant about the airship being little more than a flying casino: Set up here and there amongst shining brass tangles of pipes and tanks, protruding up from the polished wooden floor, were indeed game tables with bright green felt tops upon which stacks of chips and piles of dice waited, ready for play.

“Do you like it?” Moonbyul asked as she watched Seulgi turn about the room. She let her pleased grin drop as Seulgi looked away.

This was starting to get old.

“It’s really nice,” Seulgi answered, surprising herself with her breathless admission.  

She was so busy marveling at the carved moulding and richly upholstered furniture that she didn’t notice Moonbyul’s approach until she felt an arm around her waist and the captain’s lips upon hers. She was so stunned by the forceful - yet also curiously delicate - attack that she didn’t know how to respond.

But she didn’t have to.

Irene had Moonbyul pinned to the wall with the blade of her sabre against so fast that both Seulgi and Moonbyul could only blink in surprise. Seulgi hadn’t even noticed Irene coming into the room, but now that she had begun to recover from Moonbyul's assault, she thought she could hear the faint sounds of a conflict coming from up on the deck.

“Captain Moon Byuli, ace airship pilot, and notorious philanderer,” Irene growled.

“Chill, Ice Princess,” Moonbyul said as she raised her hands up defenselessly. Her shock at being accosted was quickly replaced with bemusement at seeing Irene. “Although I do always appreciate it when my reputation precedes me~”

Irene glared at her, the epithet egging her on as she pressed the edge of her blade harder against the captain’s skin. “What did you call me?” she whispered dangerously.

Their faces were only inches apart, and Irene could see a strange, tired, almost lazy look to Moonbyul’s eyes as she held her fierce gaze. The silver-haired captain tried to swallow past the blade, but hissed as she felt it cut through the first few layers of skin.

“Do you really think I don’t know who you are?” Moonbyul asked. “I make it my business to keep track of all the cuties in... and out of the Empire,” she explained with a sly smirk, emphasizing the last part meaningfully.

“The real question is, what is ex-Imperial General Bae Irene doing on my ship?”

The ‘Ice Princess’ froze at her full title being announced so leisurely in front of Seulgi. She had little to worry about at this stage in their plans, as she heard the growing roar of Joy’s chainsaw approaching the trapdoor at the top of the staircase. They basically had control of the ship, whether or not its pilot decided to comply with their demands. Seulgi’s part in their scheme was over. So what if she knew that Irene had been the chief architect of the fall of Maranda and Doma, among the countless other hamlets she had ordered the subjugation of? Seulgi was free to go if she didn’t want to be associated with her brother’s murderer.

It didn’t matter anymore.

Right?

With great mental effort, Irene composed herself and lowered her sword. They were here to negotiate. That was her priority currently. Moonbyul took a brief moment to feel at her neck, checking her gloved fingers for blood.

“They said you have the only airship in the world,” Irene stated.

Something in the captain’s greasy smile broke; it was a fine, hairline fracture of a of a crack, almost gone before Irene noticed it, and Moonbyul suddenly spread her arms and twirled. “And isn’t she a beauty? Welcome to the Blackjack, ladies! How may I be of service~?” She bowed with a flourish and waited.

Seulgi was still reeling from the bizarre series of events, and despite that splash of cold water dumped on her at having her worst fears about Irene confirmed, she had to admit she was impressed at how coolly Irene had handled the libertine captain. The kiss itself had easily been the least startling incident of the evening, though the heady feeling it had left her with had only been made worse by Moonbyul’s continued carefree antics. The whole thing felt unreal. Like an act. It seemed to be part of the running theme for the day’s events.

“We need your ship,” Irene stated, again in that cold tone. She finally sheathed her sword and rested her hand upon its hilt.

Moonbyul slowly rose from her bowed position, a sudden glint of interest in her eyes as she watched Irene. “And what do you need it for?”

Seulgi watched Irene carefully. Despite Yeri’s attempts to persuade her otherwise, Seulgi’s confidence in Irene’s motivations still wavered, and the character of the captain was entirely unknown. How much could they trust this would-be kidnapper… and philanderer, as Irene had put it?

Irene seemed to be considering the same thing, as she glared levelly at the captain.

But what other choice did they have?

“Vector. The Imperial capital...” Seulgi began haltingly. Irene glanced back at her, but didn’t try to stop her.

The glimmer of intrigue in Moonbyul’s eyes shone brighter.

“We need you to take us there.”

“We’d never get close enough by land,” Irene added begrudgingly. “Security’s too tight.”

Moonbyul tugged at the cuffs of her long, embroidered coat idly. “And what’s in it for me?”

Irene and Seulgi exchanged a look, but they couldn’t hold each other's gazes for long. Irene finally spoke up. “Fame? Glory? The knowledge that you helped take down the Gestahlian Empire and saved the world from tyrannical domination?”

“Yawn~” Moonbyul sighed, covering with a gloved hand in mock boredom. “How about… a little wager~?” she suggested instead, lifting her eyebrows.

Incredible. Just when Irene thought she had this woman pegged, she refused such easy bait. “What kind of wager?” Irene asked warily.

“Simple,” Moonbyul said with a shrug as she crossed her arms. “If you win, I’ll take you wherever you want to go. But if I win…” she lilted, pausing dramatically. “She agrees to marry me,” the silver-haired captain finished, staring right at Seulgi.

“WHAT?!” Irene squawked, drawing her blade once more.

Moonbyul laughed and spread her arms wide, taunting Irene. “Those are my terms. Take ‘em or leave ‘em, sweetheart~”

Seulgi’s life flashed before her eyes. She thought she was just supposed to be a stand in for Yerin, that Moonbyul had been intending to elope with the prima donna, and now she just so casually changes her intended? Seulgi was strangely offended, beneath her layers of embarrassment and indignation.

“You’re crazy!” Irene exclaimed. “You’re going to take us to the capital or-”

Seulgi put a hand on Irene’s shoulder and the ex-general immediately quieted in surprise. “What do we really have to lose?” Seulgi asked her. Seulgi thought she saw Irene lose a little color at that, and while the idea of Irene being scared of something was disturbing in and of itself, she wasn’t sure what it was that the ex-general might be afraid of. “Either we win, and stop the Empire,” she explained, trying to catch Irene’s dodging gaze, “or we lose, and it’s all over anyway.” If Irene really wanted to take down Gestahl the way Yeri claimed she did, then she should be willing to play Moonbyul’s game, right? Why was she hesitating?

Moonbyul laughed suddenly and clapped her hands. “That’s the spirit!”

Seulgi rolled her eyes. “So how do we decide?” she asked.

The captain put a hand to her chin in thought. “I guess I didn’t think that far ahead. I didn’t think you’d go for it, honestly.”

“Rock, paper, scissors,” Irene barked suddenly, and Seulgi tried to keep a neutral expression. If there was one thing she could trust about Irene after weeks of traveling together, it was her skill in rock, paper, scissors.

Moonbyul shrugged with an easy smile. “Fine, best two out of three?”

+++

The moon was hanging low over the black water, creating a rippling streak of light that stretched all the way to the shore and casting the strip of beach in a blueish hue. The crisp fall air picked up with a whistle as it whipped past the flaps of canvas and between the rope nets of the Blackjack. It tugged at Moonbyul’s long, silver hair, and she gathered it up with a navy-colored silk ribbon as she stared out at the sea.

What would she have thought of all this?

“The show’s been over for a while… are we going to leave soon?” Yooa asked, gracefully hopping down from rigging to the deck.

“...Captain? What’s wrong?”

Moonbyul leaned out over the railing and peered down at the quiet Opera House below with a faint smile. 

“I lost,” she chuckled.

She could almost hear it, faint upon the wind: that loud, obnoxious voice that had been so full of life, shouting with a finger raised high in the air.

"Let's go!"